Fishing at Mirror Lake, Gunnison County, Colorado

• Overview

  In Colorado, Mirror Lake falls inside Gunnison County. Elevation runs to 10,988 feet. It runs to roughly 40 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. There is roughly 0.9 miles of shoreline here, which is a short walk end to end. Few waters listed in Gunnison County are bigger. Buena Vista is the closest place, 18 miles off. Colorado Springs is the closest city, 87 miles away. The boundary is close enough to be worth checking before you fish.

• Where to Fish on Mirror Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Species logged across Gunnison County include rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout and cutthroat trout. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Anyone new to Mirror Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 50°F and January reads 12°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around early June. Break-up sits around early June on average, with the water closing again about early November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. On Mirror Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. A car park sits roughly half a mile away. You can camp about half a mile away, going by the mapping. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Spout Lake, 3.3 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Mirror Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.