Dory Lake near Coal Creek: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Set in Gilpin County, Dory Lake is a Colorado water. The ground round it is pine and birch. At 6 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. You are 6.5 miles from Coal Creek. For a city, Boulder is 16 miles off. Near neighbours include: Braecher Lake a shade over 0.7 miles, Thorn Lake 2.3 miles away, Kriley Pond a shade over 2.5 miles, Snowline Lake 3.2 miles away and Manchester Lake a shade over 5.4 miles. Local rules may differ a few miles either side of here.

• Where to Fish on Dory Lake

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Public occurrence data for Gilpin County names brook trout, black-spotted cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, brown trout and lake trout. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Dory Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 24°F and July at about 58°F, the water has a wide range to work through. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Climate figures give an open season running early May to late November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. On Dory Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. Parking sits 0.9 miles out, which makes for a walk with tackle. You can camp about half a mile away, going by the mapping. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. If the gate is shut, Braecher Lake at 0.7 miles is the nearest alternative. The position on Dory Lake is worth confirming on the day.