Gill Reservoir Fishing near Hayden, Colorado

• Overview

  You will find Gill Reservoir in Routt County, Colorado. It sits at 9,049 feet above sea level. At 11 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. You are 18 miles from Hayden. For a city, Boulder is 105 miles off. Within a short drive: Sellers-Crowell Reservoir (1.3 miles), Dunckley and Dubeau Reservoir sits 1.6 miles out, JOK Reservoir Number 1 (1.7 miles), Shaffer Reservoir sits 1.7 miles out and Lily Pond (2.1 miles). No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Gill Reservoir

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Inflow corners move water, and moving water gathers fish. Points where the flooded channel swings in are the reliable ones. Records held for Routt County cover brook trout, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, mountain whitefish and mountain sucker. The county list is broader than any single water. At Gill Reservoir the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 57°F at the top of summer and 20°F at the bottom of winter. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. The lid usually goes in early May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Open water usually runs from early May until about mid November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. At Gill Reservoir the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Sellers-Crowell Reservoir, 1.3 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position at Gill Reservoir before loading the car.