Maine standards-what is a "pond" vs. what is a "lake?" (Bar Harbor: move, land)

[BoxCar Willie]

A pond is what MOST natives call them nice places to swim. A lake is something the tourons call and go to. [Sometimes we get the native Mainac who get their brains shaken up a bit and call such things lakes].

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Many rules in Maine are based on whether a body of water is a "great pond" or not. A great pond is a body of water with more than 10 acres. Keep an eye on any beavers on your land. You could end up with a beaver pond of more than 10 acres which means you can't do much within 250 feet of it.

We have been making war against the beaver in Maine for 400 years and so far it's a draw.

[WhoFanMe]

Great Pond is 10 acres or more, you are correct.

[mainebrokerman]

I think it's all in a name-I've read many distinctions between a pond or lake-depth seems to be a common denominator,
size-well, generally you'd think a lake is larger than a pond-but not always

here is great pond in belgrade lakes

Great Pond is the largest of the chain of Belgrade Lakes and is prized for its clear waters, famous bass & northern pike fisheries, and vacation cottages. It is eight miles long and five miles wide with 8000 acres of water

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Great Pond used to be famous for salmon and trout during my younger years. I spent many summers on Long Point and we spent our honeymoon there. I have not been back since some criminal put northern pike in there. Now some criminal has put northern pike in Pushaw Lake which has direct access to the entire Picataquis, Penobscot and Passadumkeag watersheds. Soon a way of life will be over if they open fishways at Howland and Enfield.

[Zymer]

Why are Northern Pike a problem?

[mainebrokerman]

Pike are now in the "pond" im on, and in the streams nearby

they devour everything else

[Zymer]

"they devour everything else "

Ah, I see.

Kill everything (neurotoxin?) and re-stock? Wouldn't work for streams/rivers though...

[RMoore007]

Wow! I just looked at the sizes of all the lake/ponds in Maine. Sebec, just a few miles from Dover, is 283,337 acre feet(af). Pretty good sized.

Each county's biggest:

Androscoggin County=Auburn Lake 89,020 af
Aroostook County=Schoodic Lake 499,404 af
Cumberland County=Sebago Lake 3,224,233 af
Franklin County=Rangeley (Oquossoc) Lake 291,048 af
Hancock County=Tunk Lake 138,666 af
Kennebec County=Great Pond 195,099 af
Knox County=Megunticook Lake 17,037 af
Lincoln County=Damariscotta Lake 87,801 af
Oxford County=Mooselookmeguntic (Cupsuptic) Lake 562,121 af
Penobscot County=West Grand Lake (Pug Lake Junior Bay) 555,978 af
Piscataquis County=Moosehead Lake 4,210,069 af
Sagadahoc County=Nequassett Lake 10,757 af
Somerset County=Brassua Lake 275,166 af
Waldo County=Sheepscot Pond 53,216 af
Washington County=Big Lake 123,238 af
York County=Great East Lake 59,993 af....

See all Maine lakes and ponds here:List of lakes in Maine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[mainegrl2011]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Bays are often like coves, Lochs or harbors.

"Bays are OFTEN LIKE coves, Lochs or harbors?" Really? This whole discussion is cracking me up so I decided it was time to see what the dictionary (online versions of course) would have to tell us (definitions related to water).... a COVE (ie. Hulls Cove) is a small bay of a sea, lake, or river, a BAY (ie. Frenchman's Bay or Bay of Fundy) is a body of water enclosed by land but with a wide mouth--probably like some people we all know -- affording access to the sea and larger than a cove but smaller than a GULF (ie. Gulf of Maine), a LOCH is similar to a fjord (ie. Somes Sound), and a HARBOR is a sheltered part of a body of water deep enough to provide anchorage for ships (ie. Bar Harbor of course!)

btw, wikipedia says there is no strict size definition for a loch, but a small one is is called a lochan.

Apparently there can be a cove in a lake, but can there be a cove in a pond?