Standley Lake is a 1,200-acre lake located in Colorado. Incidentally, it provides drinking water to much of the Denver area as well. Standley Lake is also a major recreation destination for visitors and locals, offering camping, hiking, biking, and fishing opportunities.
A $7 entrance fee will get you in the front gate but the park rules prohibit boating without a permit. So, if you prefer to do most of your fishing off the bank, you’ll feel right at home. Hours are from dawn to sunset, with no specific timing listed.
Fishing in Standley Lake is one of the more popular attractions in the area because of the many species of fish the lake holds.
Standley Lake Fishing
Fish Species Present
Standley Lake is home to a variety of fish, including rainbow trout, brown trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, perch, channel catfish, and walleye. It’s the largest body of water in the Westminster area, and although it’s a “paddle only” area, anglers fishing on the bank report having a lot of success.
The only drawback is that you’re not allowed to use “aquatic bait.” That includes salamanders, crawfish, leeches, frogs, and minnows. The park isn’t purposefully weird about it, but they’ve had a series of invasive species get into the lake in previous years, destroying the water life.
Because of that, the park officials have had to take several measures that might seem distasteful to some anglers. It’s also the reason you can’t bring a boat out there. According to Standley Lake Park officials, they’ve had issues with boats bringing in an invasive mussel species.
Despite all of that, the lake is fairly rife with a variety of the above-listed fish and remains a popular place to go fishing in the Denver area.
Is It Good Fishing
About as good as any other place in Colorado, especially in the Denver area. They’ve had their fair share of problems dealing with a few invasive species. For that reason, it’s difficult to get a permit to go out there on a boat.
The latest word on boat access is unclear, but it looks like the city of Denver is strongly considering a permanent ban. That would eliminate any of the deeper lake fishing strategies, and everyone would simply have to try their luck out on the banks and piers in the area.
Do You Need to Pay
You only pay for entrance into the park, which is $7 per person. Fortunately, you can park there for free all day long. There are no additional charges for parking. For $7, you get access to the 1,200-acre lake, as well as the 3,000-acre park, which is full of various amenities.
If you want to stay overnight, camp, and fish over the weekend, it’s by reservation only, and the site doesn’t list a price.
Are Boats Allowed
Right now, it looks like boating is strictly limited, and you need to get a permit if you want to bring yours out there. The restrictions are based on the number of invasive species the park has dealt with in the past.
Not only will you have to get a permit, but they will also need to look over your boat’s hull before you launch, to ensure that more invasive mussels aren’t brought in. At the main park gate, bring your kayak or rent one, if you prefer to fish from a kayak.
However, that’s the only section in the entire park that allows anyone to launch a kayak, canoe, inflatable raft, inner tubes, or any other personal, non-motor watercraft. The main park gate is located at 100th Avenue and Simms Street.
Bottom Line
Standley Lake is supposed to be a pretty hot spot for fishing, and there are a good variety of fish species in the lake. The best part is that most of the fish species you can catch on Standley Lake are delicious.
While it’s pretty hard to get a boat in there, it looks like Standley Lake is currently open to kayaks and canoes, if you would prefer to fish from one of those. You can also camp overnight and make it a weekend’s worth of fishing. However, you have to make a reservation to camp.
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