Fishing at Steamboat Lake, Natrona County, Wyoming

• Overview

  Steamboat Lake stands in Natrona County, Wyoming. It sits at 5,853 feet above sea level. It runs to roughly 106 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Roughly 1.4 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Size puts it in the front rank of our Natrona County list. Mills at 41 miles is the nearest place to stop. Casper lies 45 miles off, Bar Nunn another 45 miles. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Steamboat Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. 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. Survey and observation records for Natrona County include rainbow trout, brown trout, white sucker and walleye. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. The near bank of Steamboat Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 69°F and January at 20°F. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early April. Ice usually gives way near early April, and forms again about early December. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. At Steamboat Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Horse Creek is 3.9 miles distant. Check the position at Steamboat Lake before loading the car.