Red Canyon Reservoir in Jackson County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  In Colorado, Red Canyon Reservoir falls inside Jackson County. The water sits 8,383 feet up. Small at around 6 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Our Jackson County list holds plenty of bigger water. The town to know is Steamboat Springs, 20 miles out. The big place round here is Fort Collins, 80 miles distant. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Red Canyon Reservoir

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Inflow corners move water, and moving water gathers fish. Built water gives depth close in, which suits a bank angler. Public occurrence data for Jackson County names brown trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, Arctic grayling and black-spotted cutthroat trout. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. Treat Red Canyon Reservoir as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 53°F at the top of summer and 19°F at the bottom of winter. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near late May. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late May and starts locking again about early November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Red Canyon Reservoir fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Roxy Ann Lake sits 4.7 miles off and takes the overflow. Nothing here settles the position at Red Canyon Reservoir for certain.