Fishing at Mountain Lake, Lake County, Colorado

• Overview

  You will find Mountain Lake in Lake County, Colorado. Elevation runs to 11,460 feet. It covers about 16 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. It ranks high for size among our Lake County listings. Leadville is the closest town at 4.5 miles. Leadville North is 5 miles and Breckenridge 18 miles. Local rules may differ a few miles either side of here.

• Where to Fish on Mountain Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Look for where the old bank line still shows under the surface. Standing timber shows when the level drops, and fish sit against it. Reported across Lake County: rainbow trout, brook trout, brown trout and cutthroat trout. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. On Mountain Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 50°F at the top of summer and 13°F at the bottom of winter. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early June. Break-up sits around early June on average, with the water closing again about early November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Plan around that when you fish Mountain Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Diamond Lake is 0.4 miles off. Check the current arrangement for Mountain Lake.