Wild Boy Lake in San Miguel County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  San Miguel County, Colorado, is where Wild Boy Lake sits. Lake country bush runs right down to the water. This is a pocket water of some 3 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Some 3.7 miles away sits Mountain Village, the nearest settlement. It is 177 miles to Colorado Springs, the nearest city. You are close to a county edge here; who manages the access can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Wild Boy Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. San Miguel County records list rainbow trout, black-spotted cutthroat trout, brown trout and brook trout among the fish reported. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Take Wild Boy Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 55°F and January at 17°F. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Count the season from break-up, usually mid May. The open-water window runs from around mid May to about late November in an average year. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Anyone fishing Wild Boy Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. The closest car park is half a mile away, so pack accordingly. There is a campsite half a mile from the water. Public toilets are recorded roughly half a mile off. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Alta Reservoir Number 3 sits 0.9 miles off and takes the overflow.