Mammoth Creek Reservoir Fishing in Gilpin County, Colorado

• Overview

  The Gilpin County end of Colorado holds Mammoth Creek Reservoir. What surrounds it is lake country bush. It covers about 16 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Few waters listed in Gilpin County are bigger. The closest town, Nederland, is 8.1 miles away. The big place round here is Boulder, 21 miles distant. You are close to a county edge here; who manages the access can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Mammoth Creek Reservoir

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Points where the flooded channel swings in are the reliable ones. Levels move with the draw rather than the rain on water like this. Reported across Gilpin County: brook trout, black-spotted cutthroat trout and rainbow trout. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. On Mammoth Creek Reservoir the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 54°F on average, January about 20°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid May. Climate figures give an open season running mid May to mid November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Mammoth Creek Reservoir runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. It is recorded as intermittent, which means the basin empties in dry spells. Parking is mapped about half a mile from the bank. There is camping recorded roughly half a mile off. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Teller Lake, 0.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Ask locally about Mammoth Creek Reservoir if anything is unclear.