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Best lake trout lakes in Colorado

13 Colorado waters hold lake trout, 1 mapped with real state-agency depth surveys. 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. Deep, cold and long-lived. Below 50°F water year-round — shallow at ice-out and on fall spawning reefs.

1. Granby Reservoir — 221 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Kokanee
2. Crystal Reservoir — 280 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Kokanee
3. Morrow Point Reservoir — 146 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Kokanee
4. Turquoise Lake — 115 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Cutthroat Trout
5. Clear Creek Reservoir — 61 ft max · survey depth data · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Kokanee
6. Twin Lakes Lower — 95 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Cutthroat Trout
7. Ruedi Reservoir — 246 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Yellow Perch, Lake Trout, Brown Trout
8. Shadow Mountain Reservoir — 24 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Kokanee
9. Carter Lake — 180 ft max · Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Bluegill, Rainbow Trout
10. Gross Reservoir — 299 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Muskellunge, Lake Trout, Brown Trout
11. San Cristobal Lake — 89 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Brook Trout
12. Grand Lake — 389 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Kokanee
13. Barker Reservoir — 118 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Muskellunge, Lake Trout, Brown Trout

When to fish lake trout in Colorado

• Spring 10–40 ft — The brief shallow window: post-ice-out lakers roam rock shoals and points where anyone can reach them.
• Summer 50–120 ft — Below the thermocline in sub-50°F water — deep humps and basin edges near bait (smelt, cisco, alewife).
• Fall 10–50 ft — Turnover puts lakers on shallow rock reefs to spawn — big fish shallow, best late in the day.
• Winter 20–80 ft — One of the best ice targets — cold water is their comfort zone; they roam basin edges and humps all winter.

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 brown trout lakes · best brook trout lakes · best kokanee lakes · best cutthroat trout lakes · best splake lakes

Lake Trout elsewhere: Ontario · Minnesota · Québec · Michigan · New Hampshire · Montana · Wyoming · Utah · Alaska · New York · Wisconsin · Maine · Vermont