Fishing Burnt Lake in Montrose County, Colorado

• Overview

  Burnt Lake is one of the Montrose County listings for Colorado. Everything around it is rolling bush. This is a pocket water of some 2 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. You are 26 miles from Montrose. The nearest city of size is Colorado Springs, 145 miles away. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Burnt Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. The old creek line under the surface is the feature worth finding. Look for where the old bank line still shows under the surface. Montrose County records list rainbow trout, flannelmouth sucker, brown trout and white sucker among the fish reported. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Burnt Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 61°F, while January sits near 15°F. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near mid April. Break-up sits around mid April on average, with the water closing again about late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. It sets the rhythm of the year at Burnt Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Fitzpatrick Reservoir, 1.1 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. The position on Burnt Lake is worth confirming on the day.