Cobbosseecontee Lake

Cobbosseecontee Lake, also known as Cobbossee Lake, is a lake located in the towns of Litchfield, Manchester, Monmouth, West Gardiner, and Winthrop Maine. It is the largest lake in the Winthrop Lakes Region at 100 feet (30 m) deep, covering about 8.7 square miles (23 km2) in surface area, a length of 9 miles (14 km), and a shoreline of 62 miles (100 km). The word Cobbosseecontee translates to "plenty of sturgeon" in Wabanaki.[2]

Cobbosseecontee Lake
Pernette Cove
Cobbosseecontee Lake
Cobbosseecontee Lake
LocationKennebec County, Maine
Coordinates44°15′N 69°56′W
TypeReservoir[1]
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. length9 mi (14 km)
Surface area5,543 acres (2,243 ha)
Max. depth100 ft (30 m)
Water volume127,371 acre⋅ft (157,110,000 m3)
Shore length162 miles (100 km)
Surface elevation167 ft (51 m)
IslandsBelle Island, Black Island, Blue Bell Island, Cuba Island, Frog Island, Goodwin Island, Grape Island, Green Island, Hersey Island, Hodgdon Island, Horseshoe Island, Island Park, Ladies Delight Light, Leclair Island, Long Island, Lower Sister Island, Lovers Island, Maple Ridge Island, Merrill Island, Molazigan Island, Packards Ledge, Pine Island, Pinkham Island, Richards Island, Scott Island, Sheep Island, Upper Sister Island
SettlementsLitchfield, Manchester, Monmouth, West Gardiner, Winthrop
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Recreation

Cobbossee Lake is known for its coves, inlets, and over two dozen islands. It also has the only active inland waters lighthouse in Maine, Ladies Delight Light. The 25-foot high lighthouse, constructed in 1908, is under the ownership and care of the Cobbosseecontee Yacht Club. Founded in 1904, the club is one of the oldest continually operating inland yacht clubs in the United States. The lighthouse marks the northern edge of a jagged underwater reef that runs down the middle of the lake. The archipelago of islands and exposed ledges are the visible high points of that reef. A state-owned public launch is located on the southwest shore of the lake in East Monmouth. Low hills and ridges surround the lake, and Monks Hill and Allen Hill rise a few miles north of the lake, while a gray line of hills form a barrier near Sabattus. There are many year-round homes and cottages along the shoreline, but there is much less development on the islands in the middle of North Bay. Just south of Belle Island sits a 50-yard long ledge.

  • Ladies Delight Light

Fishing

The lake is nationally recognized as one of the top bass-fishing lakes in America due to its impressive largemouth population.[3] Many of Maine's largest bass come from Cobbossee. There are also many other different types of popular fish that you can find in Cobbosseecontee, which include brook trout, brown trout, rainbow smelt, white perch, yellow perch, bullheads, sunfish and crappie. Two of the most popular bass fishing locations on the lake are the lily pond and Horseshoe Island.

  • Cuba Island in c. 1930-1945

Camp

The lake is home to Camp Cobbossee, Camp Kippewa, Pilgrim Lodge, and the YMCA Camp of Maine.

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cobbosseecontee Lake
  2. John C. Huden, Indian Place Names of New England (New York: Museum of the American Indian, 1962), 55.
  3. http://www.sunjournal.com/news/oxford-hills/2013/05/02/three-maine-lakes-ranked-nationally-bass-fishing/1357833
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