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Best brook trout lakes in Colorado

16 Colorado waters hold brook trout. Ranked below by size and depth-data quality — open any water to see exactly where to fish it: depth contours, scored spots with plain-English reasons, seasonal windows and bait picks. The native char of cold ponds and streams. Needs the coldest, cleanest water in the lake.

1. Road Canyon Reservoir — 49 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Cutthroat Trout, Splake
2. Cheesman Reservoir — 190 ft max · Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Yellow Perch
3. Gross Reservoir — 299 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Muskellunge, Lake Trout, Brown Trout
4. San Cristobal Lake — 89 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout
5. Island Lake — 77 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout, Cutthroat Trout
6. Trappers Lake — 167 ft max · Brook Trout, Cutthroat Trout
7. Eggleston Lake Big — 52 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout, Splake
8. Barker Reservoir — 118 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Muskellunge, Lake Trout, Brown Trout
9. Meadow Creek Reservoir — 41 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout
10. Monarch Lake — 14 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout
11. Eggleston Lake Little — 52 ft max · Brook Trout, Cutthroat Trout
12. Battlement Reservoir Big — 46 ft max · Brook Trout
13. Marys Lake — 33 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout
14. Vela Reservoir — 23 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Cutthroat Trout
15. Kitson Reservoir — 13 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Arctic Grayling, Cutthroat Trout
16. Andrews Lake — 18 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Cutthroat Trout

When to fish brook trout in Colorado

• Spring 2–15 ft — Ice-out scatters brookies along shorelines and inflow mouths, feeding on the first insect activity.
• Summer 10–30 ft — Brookies hold where the coldest water is — spring holes, deep basin edges and inflow plumes.
• Fall 2–15 ft — Fall is the show: brilliant spawning colors on gravel shoals and inflow gravel.
• Winter 3–20 ft — A classic ice-fishing target — active all winter in shallow to mid-depth water.

Also in Colorado: best largemouth bass lakes · best smallmouth bass lakes · best walleye lakes · best saugeye lakes · best crappie lakes · best bluegill lakes · best channel catfish lakes · best rainbow trout lakes · best white bass & hybrids lakes · best yellow perch lakes · best common carp lakes · best lake trout lakes · best brown trout lakes · best kokanee lakes · best cutthroat trout lakes · best splake lakes

Brook Trout elsewhere: Minnesota · Québec · Michigan · New Hampshire · Montana · Wyoming · Massachusetts · Washington · Utah · New York · Nevada · Maine