Fish Creek Reservoir Number 1 Fishing Guide, Ouray County, Colorado

• Overview

  Fish Creek Reservoir Number 1 falls in Ouray County, part of Colorado. The bank is 9,360 feet above sea level. This is a pocket water of some 12 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Ouray is the closest town at 18 miles. Colorado Springs sits 153 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Fish Creek Reservoir Number 1

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Standing timber shows when the level drops, and fish sit against it. Points where the flooded channel swings in are the reliable ones. Across Ouray County, recorded fish include rainbow trout, brown trout, black-spotted cutthroat trout and white sucker. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At this water the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 58°F in July and bottom out at 17°F in January. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Open water usually runs from early May until about late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. On this water that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. The nearest alternative is Fish Creek Reservoir Number 2, 0.4 miles out. None of that is settled for this water in what we hold.