Andrews Tarn in Grand County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  You will find Andrews Tarn in Grand County, Colorado. Mixed forest runs right down to the water. The water measures roughly 2 acres, so nothing here is far from anything else. On size it sits at the modest end of our Grand County list. The nearest place of any size is Estes Park, 10 miles away. Boulder sits 29 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Andrews Tarn

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. County-wide records name black-spotted cutthroat trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout and cutthroat trout. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Andrews Tarn fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 17°F to 51°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Once it clears, about late May, the fishing comes on quickly. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late May and starts locking again about early November. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. That shapes the year on Andrews Tarn.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. You can camp about half a mile away, going by the mapping. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Should this one be busy, Lake of Glass is 0.9 miles off. None of that is settled for Andrews Tarn in what we hold.