Lake Helen in Big Horn County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  The Big Horn County entry here is Lake Helen, in Wyoming. It sits at 9,970 feet above sea level. With some 53 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The edge runs 1.6 miles or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Few waters listed in Big Horn County are bigger. The town to know is Buffalo, 26 miles out. The big place round here is Billings, 119 miles distant. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lake Helen

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout and white sucker. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. At Lake Helen the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 51°F at the top of summer and 14°F at the bottom of winter. A hard winter is normal, and the thaw brings a strong few weeks. Break-up comes around early June, and the run that follows is short and strong. The water is typically free of ice between early June and early November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. It holds true on Lake Helen more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Should this one be busy, Lake Marion is 0.7 miles off. Treat Lake Helen as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.