Carneros Lake in Las Animas County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Carneros Lake lies in Las Animas County, in Colorado. The water sits 11,896 feet up. This is a pocket water of some 8 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Colorado listings. You are 37 miles from Questa. It is 84 miles to Pueblo, the nearest city. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Carneros Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Species logged across Las Animas County include rainbow trout, white sucker and brook trout. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. The shape of Carneros Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between 15°F in January and 51°F in July. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Count the season from break-up, usually late May. Averages place the thaw at late May and the freeze at early November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Anyone fishing Carneros Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Strawberry Lake sits 2.3 miles off and takes the overflow. None of that is settled for Carneros Lake in what we hold.