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Old 06-21-09, 09:24 AM   #1
vabeachbass
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Default The difference between a pond and a lake.

Since I've been reading around on the forums I see references being made to ponds and lakes. Until now, I never thought much of it. I may be splitting hairs, but for my own benefit (and any other newcomers) I want to make sure I am accurately describing my situation when asking.

I always thought it was a matter of size. I went to the interweb and found many sites saying, regardless of size, a pond was man made and a lake was natural, which threw me off. The online dictionary basically says a body of still water smaller than a lake. Which better relates to my personal definition. I had thought a pond was a relatively small body of water typically fished from shore, or where boating is not permitted.

Again I hope this is not excessive - but I dont want to be the guy calling a truck a car.
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Old 06-21-09, 09:42 AM   #2
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it has to do with the depth of the water weather it is called a lake or a pond I could look it up but I am feeling a bit lazy this morning .


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Old 06-21-09, 10:00 AM   #3
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Here in NJ Lake Hopatcong is our largest lake, but to some out of staters they called it a pond since they ran out of water before hitting top speed, think its more regional opinion myself. Not sure what dictates a pond or lake myself.
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Old 06-21-09, 10:01 AM   #4
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i consider a pond as a SMALL body of water, a lake is a BIG body of water... i think most of the people on this forum go along the same guidelines

most ponds can accomidate boating, the size makes a difference about what kind of boating... some will holds canoes, actually most will, but a lot of ponds wont hold a bassboat (or let it run around)

but on the natural and man-made thing, i dont really believe many people think like that... there isnt 1 natural lake in South Carolina, but are you tellin me Clarks Hill or Lake Murray or Santee Cooper is a POND...... so i think that might be someone over thinkin it

thats just what i think and im guessin what a good bit of other people think, hopes this helps...

i cant wait for people to call me wrong on this one....
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Old 06-21-09, 12:13 PM   #5
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toMAto, TOmaTO. i too think of size whether or not i call it a pond or lake. both can be man made. or natural.
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Old 06-21-09, 12:18 PM   #6
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Whats the difference between a ship and a boat?

Eh?

I dont think there is a definitve line.

Although recently I did hear the difference between a turtle and a tortoise. Its not just that tortoises are on land. Turtles by definition drag the shell when they walk, tortoises lift theirs clear of land.

Yes I know thats completly useless info.
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Old 06-21-09, 12:42 PM   #7
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My personal difference between a pond and a lake is if it is too big to paddle anywhere comfortably on the body of water, it is a lake. If I can "skull" around and fish a majority of the place in a couple of hours, it's a pond.
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Old 06-21-09, 12:57 PM   #8
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Lakes can certainly be man made as well. Lake Dubbonet is a man made lake and actually covers quite a lot of ground.
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Old 06-21-09, 12:58 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubba_Bruiser View Post
My personal difference between a pond and a lake is if it is too big to paddle anywhere comfortably on the body of water, it is a lake. If I can "skull" around and fish a majority of the place in a couple of hours, it's a pond.
If i can stand on the East Shore, cast, and hit grass on the West shore, it's a pond
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Old 06-21-09, 01:08 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MallenManson View Post
If i can stand on the East Shore, cast, and hit grass on the West shore, it's a pond
We call that a ditch brother. LOL
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Old 06-21-09, 01:44 PM   #11
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Ya, ponds are smaller, lake are bigger! Talking about acreage here too!
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Old 06-21-09, 01:48 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aikenyounggun View Post
i consider a pond as a SMALL body of water, a lake is a BIG body of water... i think most of the people on this forum go along the same guidelines

most ponds can accomidate boating, the size makes a difference about what kind of boating... some will holds canoes, actually most will, but a lot of ponds wont hold a bassboat (or let it run around)

but on the natural and man-made thing, i dont really believe many people think like that... there isnt 1 natural lake in South Carolina, but are you tellin me Clarks Hill or Lake Murray or Santee Cooper is a POND...... so i think that might be someone over thinkin it

thats just what i think and im guessin what a good bit of other people think, hopes this helps...
Sounds accurate to me!
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Old 06-21-09, 04:43 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubba_Bruiser View Post
We call that a ditch brother. LOL

You haven't seen me cast yet buddy
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Old 06-21-09, 06:03 PM   #14
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here try this link , all the other info i could find said that it was not so much the size but how and where rooted plants grow and if the winds could effectively create a wind sweep beach or not but this site gives a test to rate a body of water as a lake or a pond .

http://www.aquahabitat.com/ponds.lakes.ed.html


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Old 06-21-09, 06:25 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim80 View Post
here try this link , all the other info i could find said that it was not so much the size but how and where rooted plants grow and if the winds could effectively create a wind sweep beach or not but this site gives a test to rate a body of water as a lake or a pond .

http://www.aquahabitat.com/ponds.lakes.ed.html


Jim
Sounds too technical for this simple minded bas****. I'm still tryin to figure out how to get this helmet off
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Old 06-21-09, 07:00 PM   #16
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Lol mallen. I definitely agree with the above statements that man made or natural has nothing to do with it. I believe that I am correct in saying that lakefork in texas is man made to a point. Dworshak here in Idaho is man made and its 50 miles long! I was given the definition in acre feet. Anything less than 1000 acre feet of water(amount needed to fill one acre of land to a depth of 1 ft) is a pond, anything more is a lake, but its all just mindless qualification. If you can fish all the shoreline in a day, I would have to say its a pond.
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Old 06-21-09, 07:17 PM   #17
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that helmet is the one that hold cans and has straws right


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Old 06-21-09, 09:38 PM   #18
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I have a pretty simple way of looking at it. If I can reach every square inch of a body of water by casting from shore, it is a pond. If not, it is a lake.
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Old 06-21-09, 09:45 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim80 View Post
that helmet is the one that hold cans and has straws right


Jim
Yep! The curley straws!
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Old 06-22-09, 07:20 AM   #20
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Many years ago I read that what biologists regard as the "technical" difference between a pond and a lake is that a ponds depth is shallow enough to walk through and a lake is too deep to walk through. That being said, I would still consider a body of water 3 acres in size, but too deep to walk through to be a pond in my mind.

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Old 06-23-09, 08:57 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by keithdog View Post
Many years ago I read that what biologists regard as the "technical" difference between a pond and a lake is that a ponds depth is shallow enough to walk through and a lake is too deep to walk through. That being said, I would still consider a body of water 3 acres in size, but too deep to walk through to be a pond in my mind.

I call that a flood!

But anything more than 20 acres is a lake in my book, and less than that is a pond!
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Old 06-24-09, 03:35 AM   #22
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I think it come down to the spelling....

I think Bill M hit it best when he said that it is more regional than anything. IN my neck of the woods, most of my lakes are in fact resevoirs. On an acreage basis, they would be called ponds by some.

You will see a lot of posts on pond fishing here, and I think that the majority of us consider it a shallow body of water where you fish primarily from the shore or some form of personal water craft.
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