Pointer Lake Fishing Guide, Mineral County, Colorado

• Overview

  Pointer Lake sits in Mineral County, out in Colorado. Country round the bank runs to rolling bush. This is a pocket water of some 11 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. You are 29 miles from Ouray. The nearest city of size is Pueblo, 142 miles away. No border sits close enough to matter. It is the kind of place people fish for years without exhausting.

• Where to Fish on Pointer Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Records held for Mineral County cover brook trout, black-spotted cutthroat trout, brown trout, rainbow trout and cutthroat trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Read Pointer Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 52°F and January about 11°F. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough late May. Break-up near late May, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. That shapes the year on Pointer Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. You can camp about half a mile away, going by the mapping. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. The nearest alternative is Rito Hondo Reservoir, 1.3 miles out. Rules at Pointer Lake are worth checking on the day.