Summit Lake near Steamboat Springs: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  This water sits in Routt County, Colorado. Around the bank it is pine and birch. Small at around 5 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. It is a small entry by Routt County standards. Head to Steamboat Springs, 8.9 miles away, for anything you forgot. The big place round here is Boulder, 83 miles distant. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Summit Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Records held for Routt County cover brook trout, cutthroat trout and rainbow trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Read Summit Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 53°F, while January sits near 18°F. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late May. Ice clears near late May and comes back about early November in a typical year. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Summit Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. 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. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. George Lake, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. For Summit Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.