Fishing at Upper Cataract Lake, Summit County, Colorado

• Overview

  The Summit County end of Colorado holds Upper Cataract Lake. Height above sea level is 10,758 feet. It measures about 40 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Roughly 1.1 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Size puts it in the front rank of our Summit County list. Vail is the closest town at 11 miles. Beyond it, Avon at 15 miles and Minturn at 15 miles. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Upper Cataract Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Summit County list brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, black-spotted cutthroat trout and cutthroat trout. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. Fish Upper Cataract Lake where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 51°F and January at 16°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough late May. Ice usually gives way near late May, and forms again about early November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. That is the shape of the year on Upper Cataract Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Overnight stays are possible half a mile away. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Cat Lake, 0.4 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position on Upper Cataract Lake before loading the car.