Prairie Dog Reservoir in Moffat County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Prairie Dog Reservoir lies in Moffat County, Colorado. The bank is 5,482 feet above sea level. A splashy cast here empties the swim; a quiet one owns it. Most waters listed here for Moffat County are larger. Rangely is the closest town at 11 miles. Meeker follows at 41 miles, then Naples at 47 miles. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Prairie Dog Reservoir

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. 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. Records held for Moffat County cover flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker, white sucker and common carp. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. At Prairie Dog Reservoir the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 72°F for July and 18°F for January. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near late March. Averages suggest open water from about late March through to roughly early December. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. It holds true on Prairie Dog Reservoir more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. This one is mapped as intermittent, so a wasted trip is a real risk in a dry year. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. State or provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. For a change of water, Box Elder Reservoir Number 3 is 2.3 miles distant. Where Prairie Dog Reservoir is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.