Yellowstone National Park - 2000 Yellowstone Angler Report (U.S. National Park Service)

Approximately 2.8 million people visited Yellowstone National Park in 2000. The National Park Service issued 67,687 fishing permits this year, and anglers returned 3,798 usable Volunteer Angler Report catch cards (5.6 % of those issued). Exit gate surveys, where visitors are interviewed as they leave the park, revealed that nearly 4 % of anglers who purchased a fishing permit did not fish, which resulted in an estimate of 65,990 total anglers fishing in 2000. The following sport fishery statistics were estimated using data from exit gate surveys and the volunteer angler report system.

In 2000, parkwide angler use (total number of days anglers spent fishing) was 264,250, and total hours spent fishing was estimated at 712,642 hrs. Anglers landed 713,990 fish and creeled only 22,109, releasing more than 97 % of all fish landed. The average angler fished 2.8 days, 1.4 different waters/day, and 2.7 hours/day in 2000. Mean annual landing and creel rates were 1.00 and 0.03 fish/hour, respectively. Nearly 81 % of single-day anglers landed one or more fish.

Cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki were the most frequently captured fish in 2000 (59%), followed by rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (16%), brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis (9%), and brown trout Salmo trutta (8%). Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, arctic grayling Thymallus arcticus, mountain whitefish Prosopium williamsoni, and unidentified fishes made up the remaining 8 % of angler landed fish.

Mean length of 33,465 fish reported landed from the volunteer angler report system was 12.9 inches (328 mm); 59 % of these fish were >12 inches (305 mm), and 47 % were >14 inches (356 mm). Lake trout had the greatest average length (17.6 inches; 447 mm), followed by cutthroat trout (14.4 inches; 366 mm), mountain whitefish (12.4 inches; 315 mm), brown trout (12.0 inches; 305 mm), rainbow trout (10.6 inches; 269 mm), arctic grayling (10.1 inches; 257 mm), and brook trout (6.9 inches; 175 mm).

An estimated 83 % of park anglers reported being satisfied with their overall fishing experience in 2000; 72 % and 78 %, respectively, reported being satisfied with numbers and sizes of fish landed. Satisfied anglers landed about 1.1 fish/hour (mean length, 13.0 inches or 330 mm) and 3 fish/day. Anglers unsatisfied with their fishing experience landed over 1 fish/day (0.6 fish/hour) that were smaller (mean length, 11.2 inches or 284 mm) in size. Mean angler-skill level was 1.98 (experienced). Fishery statistics for 23 lakes and streams that collectively constituted approximately 96 % of reported parkwide angler use in 2000 are listed in Table 1. Parkwide angling statistics for the period 1975-2000 are listed in Tables 2 and Table 3.

Table 3. Estimates of park visitors, fishing permits issued, total parkwide anglers, and total parkwide angler days in Yellowstone National Park, 1975-2000.

Year	Total Park Visitors	Total Park Fishing Permits*	Total Parkwide Anglers	Total Parkwide Angler Days	95% Confidence Limits
1975	2,246,100	191,600	136,300	257,300	248,400 - 266,300
1976	2,525,200	213,200	151,700	284,200	278,500 - 298,900
1977	2,487,100	217,000	154,600	311,300	304,000 - 318,500
1978	2,623,100	218,000	155,700	333,800	326,200 - 341,300
1979	1,891,900	195,100	139,100	291,300	274,500 - 308,200
1980	2,009,600	184,200	130,800	311,300	287,000 - 334,600
1981	2,544,200	172,300	160,000	383,400	363,400 - 403,300
1982	2,404,900	205,000	152,000	332,500	314,700 - 350,300
1983	2,405,700	166,800	120,500	275,900	261,800 - 289,900
1984	2,263,000	176,800	135,000	329,200	305,400 - 341,000
1985	2,262,500	166,700	123,800	279,000	260,800 - 297,200
1986	2,405,100	163,300	124,900	294,800	269,300 - 320,400
1987	2,618,200	183,900	151,500	370,900	349,100 - 392,800
1988	2,219,100	165,700	134,600	293,800	272,700 - 314,900
1989	2,680,400	159,200	124,400	320,900	301,100 - 340,700
1990	2,857,100	171,700	150,400	422,100	386,700 - 457,500
1991	2,957,900	187,200	161,100	403,100	372,500 - 433,800
1992	3,142,600	157,800	130,800	343,400	324,200 - 362,700
1993	2,912,200	161,000	141,100	398,100	371,400 - 424,700
1994	3,046,100	90,800	88,300	237,700	223,000 - 252,300
1995	3,125,300	87,600	85,400	270,000	237,300 - 302,300
1996	3,012,200	69,200	69,600	233,900	248,900 - 218,900
1997	2,889,500	67,900	67,000	240,100	263,700 - 216,500
1998	3,120,830	71,800	70,700	232,300	249,300 - 215,200
1999	3,130,400	70,200	67,700	233,700	203,700 – 263,800
2000	2,838,200	67,100	65,990	264,300	219,000 – 309,400

* Prior to 1994, data is based on the number of free permits issued. Beginning in 1994, data is based on number of permits sold.

A pdf version of this report is also available (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Volunteer Angler Report (289K pdf)