Fishing Hunt Lake in Chaffee County, Colorado

• Overview

  Hunt Lake is one of the Chaffee County listings for Colorado. It sits at 11,490 feet above sea level. At roughly 4 acres, the whole thing is within casting reach of a single walk. Compared with other Colorado water on our list, it sits high. Salida is the closest place, 18 miles off. Colorado Springs sits 84 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Hunt Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Chaffee County records list brown trout, rainbow trout, black-spotted cutthroat trout and brook trout among the fish reported. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Hunt Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 52°F and January near 12°F. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late May. In an average year the thaw lands around late May and the freeze near early November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. That shapes the year on Hunt Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply 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 whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. If the gate is shut, Boss Lake Reservoir at 0.9 miles is the nearest alternative. For Hunt Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.