Summit Reservoir Fishing near Mancos, Colorado

• Overview

  Summit Reservoir is one of the Montezuma County listings for Colorado. It stands 7,385 feet above sea level. At some 318 acres it is far too large to cover on foot in a day. With 4.0 miles or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Size puts it in the front rank of our Montezuma County list. Mancos is the closest town at 7.1 miles. Beyond it, Cortez at 12 miles and Towaoc at 24 miles. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Summit Reservoir

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. A reservoir gives you a hard edge, a shelf, and not much else. Reported across Montezuma County: bluehead sucker, brook trout and bluegill. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. At Summit Reservoir the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from 26°F in January up to 69°F in July. A long season, with weather mattering more than the month. In milder years the edges alone go, and the middle never sets. Late winter often fishes better here than midsummer does. On Summit Reservoir that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Adams Reservoir sits 1.1 miles off and takes the overflow. For Summit Reservoir, the notice at the access point is the final word.