In 1966 muskies were first stocked in Lake Pomme de Terre and fishing for them has been getting better all the time.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) along with the Pomme de Terre chapter of Muskies, Inc. has combined to make Lake Pomme de Terre the premier muskie fishing lake in the mid-west. While our muskies do not reproduce such as those of the northern states, they are stocked every year with a "shock" (larger) stocking every 5 years. The results have been amazing.

The PMTT (Professional Muskie Tournament Trail) was here in May of 2005, and allthey could say is that one of our 36" muskie's was the equivalent weight-wise to a 39" - 40" muskie from up north. Our fish have an abundance of gizzard shad to forage on and are very fat and sassy.

In March of 2005 the MDC were doing the spring shocking of walleye. Many eight pounders were shocked up and one that they could not reach got away but not before they had a good look at it. This fish was estimated at approximately 13 lbs. The last 4-5 yrs at least 40,000 fingerlings were stocked in various spots around the lake. Along with the stocking of fingerlings in 2005 approximately 495,000 walleye fry were released in the Lindley Arm of the lake. The reason they were stocked in the Lindley Arm is that the water is just a little more stained than the Pomme Arm and the fry would have a better chance of surviving to reach a keep able age.

Bass fishing is doing nothing but also getting better with lots of keeper bass being caught. While our keeper size is 13 inches, there are many bass that are way over this limit to help the average fisherman or fisherwoman enjoy their day on the lake.

Crappie fishing is also doing great. A great deal of the fish being caught are 9 inches and above. The white crappie are making a good come back to the lake.The black crappie make a good catch rate around the many brush piles around, docks, and bluffs. Due to the large amount of shad, our crappie are much thicker than in many of the other lakes around the area.

White bass and catfish are also in abundant numbers around the lake. We have a good fishery here at Pomme with a big variety of fish for everyone’s fancy. We know that not all people like fishing for one specific species.

Pomme de Terre offers a wide variety of species to fish for.The Pomme de Terre Chapter of Muskies, Inc along with the MDC has been placinga lot of fish attractors (brush piles) around the lake. These brush piles have the GPS Coordinates for you on the Pomme Chapters’ website missourimuskies.org as well as the MDC website mdc.mo.gov . A lot of the brush piles are marked along the shoreline by the MDC signs.

Courtesy of Earle Hammond