Fishing at Deep Ward Lake, Delta County, Colorado

• Overview

  Deep Ward Lake is set in Delta County, Colorado. Height above sea level is 10,138 feet. With some 74 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Roughly 1.3 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. It is among the larger waters listed here for Delta County. Supplies mean a trip to Cedaredge, 9.8 miles off. Orchard City lies 14 miles off, Palisade another 21 miles. The boundary is near enough that local access rules are worth double-checking.

• Where to Fish on Deep Ward Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. Levels move with the draw rather than the rain on water like this. Draw-down through summer strips the margins, so follow the water out. County-wide records name rainbow trout, white sucker and flannelmouth sucker. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Treat Deep Ward Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 56°F, while January sits near 17°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Ice is part of the season here, ending near mid May. Ice clears near mid May and comes back about mid November in a typical year. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. That shapes the year on Deep Ward Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. There is somewhere to leave the car, half a mile off. There is a campsite half a mile from the water. There are picnic tables half a mile away. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. For a change of water, Skinned Horse Reservoir is 0.4 miles distant. Confirm before you fish Deep Ward Lake.