Lake John

Lake John lies at about 8,100 feet on a State Wildlife Area northwest of Walden, a shallow, fertile lake of about 560 acres in the sagebrush of North Park. It grows rainbows and cutbows quickly on chironomids and scuds, and it fishes well from a float tube, a pram or the bank.

Chironomids are the fly here, under an indicator near the bottom after ice-off and again in fall, with leeches and scuds on a slow line between hatches. The open park means wind most afternoons, so mornings and evenings are the time. Summer warms the shallow water, and fish slow down until fall. The limit is 4 trout, and the lake is a popular ice fishery in winter.