James Marion Yoast Reservoir near Hayden: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Set in Routt County, Colorado, this is James Marion Yoast Reservoir. The country here is lake country bush. It covers about 6 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. 14 miles away sits Hayden, the nearest town. Then Steamboat Springs, 23 miles, and Craig, 24 miles. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on James Marion Yoast Reservoir

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Held water runs deepest at the wall and shallows back to the inflow. The arms fish better than the open middle whenever the water is up. Across Routt County, recorded fish include brook trout, cutthroat trout and rainbow trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On James Marion Yoast Reservoir the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 60°F and January at 19°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Expect the water usable from around late April until roughly late November. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. That is the shape of the year on James Marion Yoast Reservoir.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. 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. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Yoast Reservoir Number 1 sits 1.4 miles off and takes the overflow. Nothing here settles the position at James Marion Yoast Reservoir for certain.