Mesito Reservoir in Costilla County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  The Costilla County end of Colorado holds Mesito Reservoir. Elevation runs to 7,612 feet. This is a pocket water of some 8 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Start from Alamosa East, 25 miles down the road. Alamosa is 25 miles and Questa 30 miles. No border sits close enough to matter. Nothing about it is complicated once you have walked it.

• Where to Fish on Mesito Reservoir

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Levels move with the draw rather than the rain on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Costilla County list cutthroat trout, white sucker, black-spotted cutthroat trout and brook trout. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. Treat Mesito Reservoir as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 67°F; the cold one sits at 19°F. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late March. The lid tends to go about late March and return around early December. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. The season on Mesito Reservoir follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. Public mapping marks it as seasonal water rather than permanent. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Eastdale Reservoir Number 1 is 6.6 miles off. Signs at Mesito Reservoir carry more weight than any list.