Grindstone Lake Fishing near Mancos, Colorado

• Overview

  You will find Grindstone Lake in Montezuma County, Colorado. It stands 11,253 feet above sea level. It is pond-in-a-field scale, with the far bank a short lob away. Start from Mancos, 18 miles down the road. Then Durango, 19 miles, and Mountain Village, 31 miles. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it. Trees come down to the water on one side more than the other.

• Where to Fish on Grindstone Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Species logged across Montezuma County include bluehead sucker, brook trout, bluegill and walleye. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Read Grindstone Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 54°F and January about 20°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. After mid May the shallows warm and the fish move up. On the long-run averages the water opens up around mid May and starts locking again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Anyone fishing Grindstone Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. 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. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Should this one be busy, Two Pine Reservoir is 12 miles off. What applies at Grindstone Lake may have changed since it was mapped.