Trout Lake in Park County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Trout Lake is a Park County water, in Wyoming. The water sits 6,978 feet up. At 13 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Start from Red Lodge, 47 miles down the road. Further out sit West Yellowstone (51 miles) and Absarokee (54 miles). Round about: 0.3 miles away is Buck Lake, Shrimp Lake 0.4 miles off, 7.5 miles away is McBride Lake, Mirror Lake 12 miles off and 12 miles away is Canoe Lake. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Trout Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Open biodiversity records for Park County list brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout and cutthroat trout. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. The shape of Trout Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 56°F in July and bottoms out near 15°F in January. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Winter locks it down, and early May brings it back. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. That is the shape of the year on Trout Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. Parking is close: a car park sits half a mile from the bank. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Buck Lake, 0.3 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Ask locally about Trout Lake if anything is unclear.