Fishing and Geyser Cones

Fishing Cone is a hot spring located in the West Thumb Geyser Basin in Lake Yellowstone in Yellowstone National Park. For years visitor after visitor caught fish from the cold lake and cooked them on the hook in the hot water of the cone. The cooking-on-the-hook feat at Fishing Cone soon became famous. For years, park Superintendent P.W. Norris (1877-1882) demonstrated it to incredulous tourists, and in 1894 members of Congress hooted at their colleagues who described the process. A national magazine reported in 1903 that no visit to the park was complete without this experience, and tourists often dressed in a cook's hat and apron to have their pictures taken at Fishing Cone. The fishing and cooking practice, regarded today as unhealthy, is now prohibited.