Fishing Hiawatha Lake in Larimer County, Colorado

• Overview

  Hiawatha Lake lies in Larimer County, Colorado. Beyond the shoreline you have rolling bush. The water covers some 29 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Laporte sits 27 miles from the bank. Estes Park lies 30 miles off, Fort Collins another 31 miles. Others worth noting: Lake Ramona within 0.4 miles, Shagwa Lake out at 0.4 miles, Apache Lake within 0.4 miles, Red Feather Lake out at 0.6 miles and Lake Nokomis within 1.1 miles. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Hiawatha Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Held water runs deepest at the wall and shallows back to the inflow. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Open biodiversity records for Larimer County list black-spotted cutthroat trout, brook trout and white sucker. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. The near bank of Hiawatha Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 57°F and February about 24°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Winter locks it down, and early May brings it back. Break-up near early May, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. That is the shape of the year on Hiawatha Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. There is recorded parking some half a mile off. A jetty or pier is mapped about half a mile from here. Facilities run to toilets half a mile from the water. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Lake Ramona, 0.4 miles away. Nothing here settles the position at Hiawatha Lake for certain.