Bottle Stomp Reservoir Fishing near Paonia, Colorado

• Overview

  Bottle Stomp Reservoir is a Montrose County water, Colorado side. The ground around here is pine and birch. Small even by pond standards, it rewards one careful line. Most waters listed here for Montrose County are larger. Supplies mean a trip to Paonia, 18 miles off. The big place round here is Colorado Springs, 145 miles distant. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Bottle Stomp Reservoir

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Reported across Montrose County: rainbow trout, flannelmouth sucker, brown trout and white sucker. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Bottle Stomp Reservoir responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between 20°F in January and 65°F in July. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around early April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early April and starts locking again about early December. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. That shapes the year on Bottle Stomp Reservoir.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. The nearest alternative is Blue Lake, 1.2 miles out. The position on Bottle Stomp Reservoir is worth confirming on the day.