Nottingham Reservoir in Eagle County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Nottingham Reservoir is an Eagle County water, in Colorado. Land around it is pine and birch. It is pond-in-a-field scale, with the far bank a short lob away. On size it sits at the modest end of our Eagle County list. Head to Avon, 1.7 miles away, for anything you forgot. Beyond it, Minturn at 4.7 miles and Edwards at 5.5 miles. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Nottingham Reservoir

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Records held for Eagle County cover brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout and cutthroat trout. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. The near bank of Nottingham Reservoir is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 58°F in July and bottom out at 18°F in January. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. Averages suggest open water from about early May through to roughly late November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Plan around that when you fish Nottingham Reservoir.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. A carry of half a mile from the nearest parking is the price of fishing here. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. State or provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. The nearest alternative is Benchmark Lake Reservoir, 2.1 miles out. Treat Nottingham Reservoir as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.