Pomme de Terre Lake is located in southwest
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
at the confluence of
Lindley Creek and the
Pomme de Terre River (for which it is named). The lake is located in southern
Hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...
and northern
Polk
Polk may refer to:
People
* James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States
* Polk (name), other people with the name
Places
* Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois
* Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community
* Polk, Missour ...
counties, about north of
Springfield. Its name is the
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in No ...
word for
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern United S ...
(literally "earth-apple").
The lake is part of a series of lakes in the
Osage River
The Osage River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. The eighth-largest river i ...
Basin designed and constructed by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers for flood control. Construction began in 1957 and was complete in 1961 at a cost of $14,946,784. Storage of water began on October 29, 1961 and the multipurpose pool was reached on June 15, 1963.
The dam is adjacent to Pomme de Terre State Park and is crossed by
Route 254. It consists of a circular tunnel with two 6.5 X hydraulic slide service gates and a single circular low flow gate. The dam is long, wide at the top and wide at the base (maximum).
There are two arms of the lake that extend from the dam site. The Pomme de Terre arm follows the Pomme de Terre River and extends for . The Lindley arm follows Lindley Creek for .
Recreation
There are over 650 campsites along the lake as well as two public swimming beaches. Water skiing and many other forms of water recreation are common at the lake. Every
4th of July
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
the local Chamber of Commerce sponsors a fireworks display launched from an island near the dam site.
Pomme de Terre Lake is well known locally for its
largemouth bass
The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...
,
crappie and
white bass
The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12-15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white s ...
fishing. It has wider acceptance as a premier Muskie lake.
Muskellunge
The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae.
Origin of name
The name "muskellun ...
have been stocked in the lake since 1966, and the lake boasts one of the best catch ratios in the country.
State Park
There are two sections of state park land near Pomme de Terre which total almost . The
Pittsburg section is located on the south shore, and the
Hermitage section is located on the east shore. Each area has 128 campsites, a public beach, picnic sites, and hiking trails. The Indian point hiking trail in the Pittsburg area ends at a rock platform overlooking the lake.
Fishing
Pomme De Terre is popular among anglers and the lake is well known for several different species of fish. The fish that the lake is most popular for, however, is the
muskie
The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae.
Origin of name
The name "muskellu ...
. Muskies don't reproduce naturally in Pomme de Terre, so the Conservation Department nets fish each spring and milks them for eggs. After the eggs are fertilized at the lake, the fish are released. The eggs are then taken to the
Lost Valley Fish Hatchery near Warsaw to be hatched. By October, when they are released into Pomme de Terre and several other lakes in Missouri.
[http://www.missourifishingguide.com/pomme.htm Lake Pomme De Terre Fishing]
Statistics
* Surface area: 7,821 acres (multipurpose pool) / 16,100 acres (flood pool)
* Shoreline:
* Elevation: above sea level (multipurpose pool) / 874 feet (flood pool)
* Dam: long
earth and rockfill embankment; above streambed
References
External links
US Army Corps of Engineers Project Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomme De Terre Lake
Lakes of the U.S. Interior Highlands
Protected areas of Hickory County, Missouri
Protected areas of Polk County, Missouri
Buildings and structures in Hickory County, Missouri
Buildings and structures in Polk County, Missouri
Reservoirs in Missouri
Bodies of water of the Ozarks
Dams in Missouri
United States Army Corps of Engineers dams
Bodies of water of Hickory County, Missouri
Bodies of water of Polk County, Missouri