Share your catch
US

Twin Lakes Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Reclamation's Twin Lakes Reservoir south of Leadville, where lake trout from 22 to 34 inches must go back and the state cutthroat record was caught.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
57 / 57 F
Wind
SW 17 mph

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

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 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 feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. Today brings clear skies, wind SW around 17 mph, rising pressure near 1006 hPa and a high of 57. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:43 AM-11:43 AM and 10:12 PM-12:12 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Brook troutExcellent

The best band: Vermont's ideal is 55-60Β°F. Fish feed in daylight, since Michigan DNR notes they are more diurnal than other trout, and in ponds and lakes Maine IFW says spring and fall bring them near shore and the surface.

Lake troutGood

Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 44 F with a rain chance. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Colorado requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $57.63 for residents. What a Colorado licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing lake trout here? Check the size and bag limits with CPW before you keep anything. The season dates for Colorado, read off the agency, are on the Colorado seasons page.

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.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp57 F
High / Low57 / 36 F
WindSW 17-30 mph
Pressure1006.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 66%
Sunrise / Sunset07:23 / 18:15
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Twin Lakes this week

The best day on Twin Lakes this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:43 AM-11:43 AM and 10:12 PM-12:12 AM
Minor period
4:06 AM-5:06 AM
Sun
07:23 to 18:15
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 18 mph
Rain chance
66%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

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

Spring and fall in shallow water, deep in summer, and through the ice in winter

Lake trout are slow-growing chars of large, deep, cold lakes, native from Alaska and northern Canada to New England and the Great Lakes, and introduced in many western lakes. Spring and fall bring lakers into 10 to 30 feet of water (Michigan DNR), within reach of casters and shallow trollers; fall is also spawning time over rocky shoals.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66Β°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Spring and fall in ponds and lakes, when fish come shallow; summer in the coldest headwater streams

The brook trout is a char native to eastern North America, a fish of cold, clean streams and ponds, and the state fish of Michigan. The best band: Vermont's ideal is 55-60Β°F. Fish feed in daylight, since Michigan DNR notes they are more diurnal than other trout, and in ponds and lakes Maine IFW says spring and fall bring them near shore and the surface.

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
Rainbow trout
Brook trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 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, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 52 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 57 F, wind to 14 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 55 F, wind to 11 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

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 fishing license. Lake trout: 1 per day; all lake trout 22–34 inches must be released immediately (CPW Chapter W-1, effective April 1, 2026). Other species follow statewide limits.

Access

Two boat ramps and two campgrounds (about 100 sites) managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Leadville office (Reclamation). Facilities close in winter.

About this water

A Reclamation reservoir of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project at 9,200 feet, about 13 miles south of Leadville, Lake County, Colorado; 2,440 surface acres available for recreation.

Fishing Twin Lakes: the full guide

Twin Lakes Reservoir

Twin Lakes Dam and Reservoir, part of Reclamation's Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, lies about 13 miles south of Leadville in Lake County, with a normal water surface at 9,200 feet and a capacity of 141,000 acre-feet. Reclamation lists 2,440 surface acres available for recreation and names rainbow trout, mackinaw (lake trout) and brook trout as the major species. The U.S. Forest Service manages recreation, with two campgrounds and two boat ramps.

Lake trout rules and records

CPW allows one lake trout a day here, and every lake trout from 22 to 34 inches must be released immediately. The Colorado lake trout record, 50.35 pounds in 2007, came from Blue Mesa Reservoir, not Twin Lakes. CPW's record book does credit Twin Lakes with the native cutthroat trout record, a 16-pound fish caught in 1964.

Interlaken

On the south side of the lakes stands the Interlaken resort, begun in 1879 and enlarged after James V. Dexter bought it in 1883; guests came for fishing, riding, hunting and steam-powered boat rides. Reclamation stabilized the historic district from 1979 and moved the hotel, Dexter's cabin and two granaries so they would not be flooded by the new dam and the Mount Elbert Power Plant on the north shore.

Winter

Reclamation says winter ice fishing is popular at Twin Lakes, while its facilities close for ice and snow.

Common questions

Can I keep a large lake trout at Twin Lakes?

You may keep one lake trout a day, but only if it is under 22 inches or over 34 inches; every lake trout between those lengths must be released immediately.

Did the Colorado lake trout record come from Twin Lakes?

No. CPW's record is a 50.35-pound lake trout from Blue Mesa Reservoir in 2007. Twin Lakes holds the state record for native cutthroat trout, 16 pounds, from 1964.

Is there ice fishing?

Yes. Reclamation describes winter ice fishing as popular, though campgrounds and other facilities are closed then.

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 Reservoir31 miArkansas River34 miGore Creek37 miSpinney Mountain Reservoir38 miTaylor River39 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 39.0820, -106.3600 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.