Fishing Heart Lake in San Juan County, Colorado

• Overview

  You will find Heart Lake in San Juan County, Colorado. This is pine and birch ground. Surface area runs to about 16 acres — small enough to read in one session. It is high ground by Colorado standards. Ouray sits 23 miles from here and is the nearest stop. The nearest city of size is Pueblo, 152 miles away. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Heart Lake

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. San Juan County records list black-spotted cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and brook trout among the fish reported. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Heart Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 51°F on average, January about 13°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around late May. The lid tends to go about late May and return around mid November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to Heart Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Should this one be busy, Castle Rock Lake is 4.2 miles off. For Heart Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.