Fishing Big Lake in Rio Grande County, Colorado

• Overview

  Set in Rio Grande County, Big Lake is a Colorado water. Beyond the shoreline you have mixed forest. At about 71 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The edge runs 1.2 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Nothing else we list in Rio Grande County covers more water. For a base, Monte Vista sits 20 miles out. Pueblo sits 114 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Big Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. County-wide records name white sucker, brown trout, rainbow trout, tench and common carp. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. Read Big Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 54°F; the cold one sits at 17°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Look for the thaw near mid May; the fishing lifts straight after. Expect the water usable from around mid May until roughly mid November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. At Big Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Spencer Lake at 0.9 miles is the sensible second choice. Where Big Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.