Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes lie at about 9,200 feet below Mount Elbert, Colorado's highest peak, two glacial lakes joined by a short channel and raised by Reclamation's dam for the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. Together they cover about 2,700 acres. They are best known for lake trout, and the rules protect the big ones: one lake trout a day, and fish from 22 to 34 inches go back. Rainbows and browns share the lakes.

After ice-off, usually in late May, rainbows and lake trout cruise the shallows and the inlets, and chironomids and small streamers on a sinking line take both. The upper lake is smaller and more sheltered. Through summer the lake trout drop deep and the fishing turns to trolling, and the wind comes up most afternoons. Fall brings the lake trout back shallow to spawn on rocky shoals.