Fishing Cone Geyser

Fishing Cone is located in the West Thumb Geyser Basin, right on the shore of Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. It sits at the water's edge, and depending on lake levels it can appear partially or fully surrounded by the lake.

The name comes from a 19th-century practice where anglers would catch fish in Yellowstone Lake and then immediately dip the still-hooked fish into the hot spring's vent to cook it. The practice was reportedly observed and described by members of the 1870s Washburn and Hayden survey expeditions, and it became a popular tourist spectacle.

No. The National Park Service banned the practice of cooking fish in Fishing Cone decades ago. Additionally, the cone's water temperature has fluctuated over the years due to natural geothermal changes, and it is no longer reliably hot enough for the stunt even if it were permitted.

Fishing Cone sits right at the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake, so its visibility and submersion vary with seasonal lake levels. In periods of high water the cone can be largely surrounded or even partially submerged by the cold lake water, which historically reduced or suppressed its eruptive activity.