Chimney Rock Lake near Maeser: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Chimney Rock Lake sits in Uintah County, out in Utah. Height above sea level is 10,518 feet. At 7 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Some 20 miles away sits Maeser, the nearest settlement. Vernal follows at 23 miles, then Naples at 25 miles. Not far off: Goose Lakes some 2.3 miles off, Fish Lake a shade over 2.3 miles, Twin Lakes some 4 miles off, Red Belly Lake a shade over 4 miles and Hacking Lake some 5.1 miles off. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Chimney Rock Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Public occurrence data for Uintah County names rainbow trout, channel catfish, common carp, black bullhead and bluegill. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. Treat Chimney Rock Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 54°F in July and bottoms out near 18°F in December. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. The lid usually goes in late May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Break-up near late May, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. At Chimney Rock Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. 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. For a change of water, Goose Lakes is 2.3 miles distant. For Chimney Rock Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.