Best Urban Fishing Hole

Busy downtown worker bees who still have a jones for hauling in lunkers could be forgiven for thinking that northwest Denver's Lake Carol Anne is the best thing since climbing walls went indoors. Located ten minutes from downtown, this fourteen-acre catch-and-release private lake is open between March and December. Early season, Carol Anne (named for co-owner Carol Anne Bohn, who, with her husband, Punch, bought the place in 1991) is stocked with several varieties of trout. As the temperature rises, largemouth bass becomes the fish of choice. One thing the swimmers all have in common, though, is size: The trout can weigh as much as fifteen pounds; the bass can tip the scales at eight. "And we have two-pound bluegill," the real-life Carol Anne says. "Your chances of catching a huge fish here are wonderful." Of course, great fishing within casting distance of LoDo isn't free. The Bohns, who limit membership at their pond to 100, charge $500 per year to cast 'n' commute.