Scotts Lake, Colorado: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Look for Scotts Lake in Garfield County, Colorado. This is mixed forest ground. Surface area runs to about 8 acres — small enough to read in one session. You are 28 miles from Gypsum. Boulder sits 104 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Within a short drive: Trappers Lake 0.6 miles, Little Trappers Lake lies 1.5 miles on, Lake of the Woods 1.9 miles, Florence Lake lies 2.2 miles on and Big Fish Lake 2.8 miles. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Scotts Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Garfield County records list cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, bluegill and brook trout among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Treat Scotts Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 52°F; by January the average is down near 14°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. After early June the shallows warm and the fish move up. In an average year the thaw lands around early June and the freeze near early November. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. On Scotts Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is a car park half a mile from the bank. A pier or jetty stands half a mile away, which helps on a crowded bank. Mapping shows a campsite some half a mile from the water. Toilets show in mapping about half a mile away. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Trappers Lake, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Scotts Lake in what we hold.