Taylor Park Reservoir Fishing Guides
A two thousand acre reservoir in a high park ringed by the Sawatch peaks, holding lake trout, kokanee and the brood stock that feeds the famous tailwater below.
Guides on the Taylor Park Reservoir
Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.
About the Taylor Park Reservoir
Taylor Park Reservoir sits in an open high basin at around nine thousand three hundred feet, ringed by the Sawatch and Elk Mountains and reached either over Cottonwood Pass from Buena Vista or up the Taylor Canyon from Almont. At full pool it covers something over two thousand acres, which makes it one of the larger high elevation waters in Colorado and one of the few where a boat is genuinely useful rather than optional. The park itself is broad, grassy and exposed, and the wind that comes up most afternoons is the defining practical fact of fishing here.
The reservoir carries an unusual mix for its elevation. Lake trout are the largest fish in it and they hold deep through the summer over the old river channel, kokanee salmon run in good numbers and draw a dedicated following, and rainbow and brown trout are present throughout with cutthroat in the tributary arms. Northern pike have established themselves as well, which complicates management but gives the reservoir a predator that will take a fly or a lure in the shallow weed at the inlet end. Mountain whitefish move up out of the river system and are common enough to be a regular incidental catch.
What makes Taylor Park matter beyond its own fishing is what it feeds. The bottom release into the Taylor River supports the tailwater below the dam, a stretch known nationally for exceptionally large rainbows that grow on the mysis shrimp flushed out of the reservoir. The gauge here reports reservoir elevation and water surface conditions, and reading it alongside the release schedule tells you as much about the river downstream as it does about the lake. A drawdown year pushes shrimp through in volume; a full pool holds them back.
This water needs a real photo
The photo at the top of this page is not Taylor Park Reservoir.
It is a regional stand-in, honestly captioned but generic — we will not put a name to a river we cannot prove. Send us a photograph you took here and it replaces the stand-in, with your credit on it.
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Pool right now
- 24 hours+0.04 ft → steady
- Storage52,260 acre-ft
- For the dateNear the lowest this lake has been this week of the year
Reading taken 17 min ago at USGS 09108500, TAYLOR PARK RESERVOIR AT TAYLOR PARK, CO.. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.
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Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.
Access
Almont - the village at the bottom of Taylor Canyon, with lodges, guides and the nearest tackle.
Gunnison - the largest town in the valley, forty miles southwest, with full services and an airport.
Taylor River - the tailwater immediately below the dam and the free stone river further down the canyon.
Cottonwood Pass - the high crossing east to Buena Vista, closed through the winter months.
Taylor Park Trading Post - the small store and marina in the park itself, with the main boat ramp.
Lakeview - the Forest Service campground on the west shore, the main developed camping on the reservoir.
Crested Butte - an hour northwest over the valley, with lodging and the nearest full resort services.
Seasons
Spring: ice comes off late at this elevation, often not until May, and the shallow water fishes best in the first weeks after it clears.
Summer: the most reliable season, with lake trout deep, kokanee schooling and afternoon wind dictating when a boat can be out.
Fall: kokanee colour up and stage toward the inlet, and the brown trout in the tributary arms become aggressive before spawning.
Winter: hard ice and heavy snow, with access limited to over snow travel and the fishing sparse but productive for those who make it.
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Questions
What species can you catch on the Taylor Park Reservoir?
Anglers target Brown Trout, Kokanee Salmon, Lake Trout, Mountain Whitefish, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Snake River Fine-Spotted Cutthroat Trout on the Taylor Park Reservoir in Colorado.
Are there fishing guides on the Taylor Park Reservoir?
GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Taylor Park Reservoir. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.
Where can you access the Taylor Park Reservoir?
Almont - the village at the bottom of Taylor Canyon, with lodges, guides and the nearest tackle. Gunnison - the largest town in the valley, forty miles southwest, with full services and an airport. Taylor River - the tailwater immediately below the dam and the free stone river further down the canyon. Cottonwood Pass - the high crossing east to Buena Vista, closed through the winter months. Taylor Park Trading Post - the small store and marina in the park itself, with the main boat ramp. Lakeview - the Forest Service campground on the west shore, the main developed camping on the reservoir. Cr...
When is the best time to fish the Taylor Park Reservoir?
Spring: ice comes off late at this elevation, often not until May, and the shallow water fishes best in the first weeks after it clears. Summer: the most reliable season, with lake trout deep, kokanee schooling and afternoon wind dictating when a boat can be out. Fall: kokanee colour up and stage toward the inlet, and the brown trout in the tributary arms become aggressive before spawning. Winter: hard ice and heavy snow, with access limited to over snow travel and the fishing sparse but productive for those who make it.
Where are the fishing regulations for the Taylor Park Reservoir?
Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Colorado agency site: https://cpw.state.co.us/rules-and-regulations