Fishing Floating Island Lake in Park County, Wyoming

• Overview

  Floating Island Lake falls in Park County, part of Wyoming. It lies 6,611 feet above sea level. Surface area runs to about 6 acres — small enough to read in one session. Our Park County list holds plenty of bigger water. The nearest town is West Yellowstone, 37 miles away. Billings sits 111 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Floating Island Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Records held for Park County cover brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout and black-spotted cutthroat trout. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. The near bank of Floating Island Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 59°F on average, January about 14°F. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about mid November. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. At Floating Island Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. There is somewhere to leave the car, 100 yards off. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Lost Lake at 2.4 miles is the sensible second choice. Treat Floating Island Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.