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Twin Lakes Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Colorado’s deep-water throne room: Twin Lakes guards state-record mackinaw under 14,000-foot skylines.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~66 F est.
Air / High
74 / 75 F
Wind
WSW 13 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Twin Lakes lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 13 mph, rising pressure near 1004 hPa and a high of 75. Water sits around 66 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Smallmouth bassGood

Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Northern pikeGood

Weedline spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits; bays with fresh green weed hold the active fish.

Lake troutFair

Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Yellow perchFair

Drifting flats and weed edges with small jigs tipped with bait.

Tomorrow: Similar at 75 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp74 F
High / Low75 / 40 F
WindWSW 13-17 mph
Pressure1004.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 4%
Sunrise / Sunset06:37 / 19:31
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~66 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 75/40 F, wind 17 mph, rain 4%

Fair or better. A 17 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Twin Lakes: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Best: ice-out and fall turnover

The char of the deep: 40-year-old predators patrolling the cold basins of glacial lakes, from the Finger Lakes to the Rockies. Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: May-Oct

Current and rock. Finds gravel flats, boulders and drop-offs, and fights far above its weight. Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: spring, early winter

The ambush predator of weedbeds and cabbage edges. Aggressive, big and always worth a wire leader. Weedline spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits; bays with fresh green weed hold the active fish.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Good most of the year

The great lakes and northern panfish staple. Schools tight to bottom; where you catch one there are fifty. Drifting flats and weed edges with small jigs tipped with bait.

When to come: the Twin Lakes calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Lake trout
Smallmouth bass
Northern pike
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 66 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Twin Lakes today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 74 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 71 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 69 F, wind to 13 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Colorado requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Colorado license. Lake trout: one over 32 inches typical here: check current CPW rules. Standard trout limits otherwise.

Access

Dexter Point and Twin Lakes ramps off Highway 82; shoreline pullouts along the north side; Interlaken trail on the south.

About this water

A 2,700-acre pair of glacial-natural lakes (enlarged for storage) at 9,200 feet below Mount Elbert, Lake County, Colorado.

Fishing Twin Lakes: the full guide

Glacial giants

Twin Lakes fills a glacial trough at 9,200 feet beneath Mount Elbert: 2,700 acres of cold, clear water that has produced Colorado’s biggest lake trout, including the state record. The two connected basins carry mackinaw as the marquee: fish past thirty pounds swim here: over a base of stocked rainbows, brown trout that ambush the shorelines at ice-out, and a cutthroat sprinkle from the feeder creeks.

Hunting mackinaw

Lakers follow the thermometer: ice-out (May) and late fall find them shallow: cast or troll big tubes, swimbaits and spoons off the points, especially the dam and Interlaken shorelines. Summer sends them to 60-100 feet: vertical jig white tubes over the humps, or troll downriggers along the old river channel. Dawn is worth double. The giants eat rarely: patience and big baits separate record hunters from limit fillers.

The supporting cast

Rainbows cruise the shallows all season for bait-and-bobber campers near the ramps. Browns hunt the rocky north shore at ice-out and again in October: jerkbaits at first light. Winter caps the lakes with sled-accessed ice: mackinaw through the hard water at 40-80 feet is a specialist tradition with a warming-hut culture all its own.

High-altitude logistics

The Dexter and Twin Lakes ramps serve boats (afternoon winds off Independence Pass are serious: mornings only for small craft). Bank access rings the lakes off Highway 82. The ghost-resort ruins at Interlaken make the classic shoreline hike-and-fish. Leadville sits twenty minutes north at 10,000 feet: acclimatize, hydrate, and watch the sky after noon.

Common questions

How big do the lake trout get?

The state record (50+ pounds) came from these waters, and twenty-pound fish show every year: deep structure, big bait, long odds, real chance.

When can I catch them shallow?

The month after ice-out and again in November: casting distance from shore at dawn. The rest of the year is a depth game.

Is the wind really that bad?

Independence Pass funnels afternoons into whitecaps fast. Fish 6-11 AM, be off or beached by one, always.

Is fishing good at Twin Lakes right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Antero Reservoir25 miRuedi Reservoir32 miGore Creek37 miSpinney Mountain Reservoir38 miTaylor River39 miDillon Reservoir39 mi
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