Virginia Lake Fishing Guide, Pitkin County, Colorado

• Overview

  Virginia Lake is set in Pitkin County, Colorado. Elevation runs to 11,450 feet. Small at around 2 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. On size it sits at the modest end of our Pitkin County list. 10 miles away sits Leadville North, the nearest town. The nearest city of size is Lakewood, 81 miles away. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Virginia Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Fish documented in Pitkin County include cutthroat trout, brook trout, rainbow trout and black-spotted cutthroat trout. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Virginia Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 51°F in July and bottoms out near 14°F in January. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late May. The lid tends to go about late May and return around early November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. The season on Virginia Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Timberline Lake, 1.5 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Confirm access to Virginia Lake locally before you travel.