Shellback - You've got a bite!!!

[Big Zig]

Planning a weekend trip to your area in the spring. Any chance you would give me a tour of either Hammond or Cowanesque Lake? Those lakes are horsepower restricted correct?

[Shellback]

I don't know how much I'll be able to help you, but I'll do what I can. I 've just started to fish those lakes this year. I'm between 2.25 and 2.5 hours away from any of them, so I don't get to fish them as much as I'd like. There are 3 lakes total, Tioga, Hammond, and Cowanesque. Tioga and Hammond are connected by a rock cut, but are different elevations, so you can't navigate between the two. Cowanesque is about 12 to 15 miles north. They are all Army Corps lakes and all are unrestricted HP. They all have large posted no wake zones which allow fishermen some quiet waters. Of course there's always someone who can't read or chooses to ignore the signs, but not often. From most folks I've talked to this year, the fishing has really been off for some reason this year. We've had an awful lot of rain, and the lakes were devastated from Ivan. Tioga won't be open again till next spring. All the day use areas of Cowanesque are piled with debris but the one of the launches is open. Hammond is open including the campground which closes the end of the month. The water is still like chocolate milk in all 3 lakes and they returned to normal pool level almost 3 weeks ago, but only opened for boating again on the first of Oct. All 3 lakes are flood control reserviors, so if we get alot of rain, it tears them up.

[Big Zig]

Thanks for the info. Don't want to put you out, I thought you were a little closer then what you are to the lakes. I'll let you know when we may be making a trip, maybe you'll be thinking the same thing at the time............

[cvalley]

Guys,

I grew up in that area (Tioga co.), and Hammond always had a beautiful blue/green color. Unfortunately the color, as far as I knew, was attributed to mine acid and I had always been told that lake was dead. Nobody I knew ever fished it. I see some of you guys fish it, so obviously it's not dead. Does anybody that fishes it know about this, or what the story is, and whether consuming fish from there is safe? I'm not trying to alarm anyone but I'm so curious; I honestly thought the poster was confused the first time I read a post about fishing Hammond...I figured they were actually on the TIOGA side.

[Shellback]

Cvalley, Thanks for joining in here and also for your other reply on Cowanesque. Actually you have the conditions of Hammond and Tioga reversed. The Tioga river has the mine acid problem, not Hammond lake. It was explained by a Corps person to me that Hammond is connected to Tioga and at a higher elevation so that it's water can dilute the mine acid content of Tioga. With the deep rock cut between the 2 reserviors, I was curious as to what the purpose was. The main dam is on the Tioga river and it has gates to regulate the flow. Hammonds water flows into Tioga lake from I believe a 6 to 8 foot higher elevation. When the flood waters get high enough on the Tioga side, the water then backflows into Hammond lake, and Hammond actually has the emergency spillway if the reserviors reach max capacity. I hope I have this right. If you launch on Tioga lake who's access is just north of Mansfield, you will be launching on the Tioga river itself, and yes it is blue green in color. The lake is about a 10 or 15 minute no wake zone cruise down the river. Once into the main lake the water color turns to normal green. There are no fish consumption advisories that I know of concerning Tioga lake crappies, either in the fishing digest or posted at the lake. If there are warnings on other species, I probably didn't take notice. I actually like to fish Tioga better as it doesn't get as much recreational boat traffic. I've caught some nice crappie there, tasty too! The bad news for now is that Tioga has been closed since the Ivan flooding, and I was told by the Corps that they would be opening it until the spring due to budget problems. The 3 lakes took a serious hit from Ivan. I was on Hammond and Cowanesque both last week, and they are still muddy. Cowanesque's beach and picnic area look like a timber staging area with all the trees left behind by the flood. They had a tough year all around with all the rain. Hopefully next year will be better for them and the fishing.

[cvalley]

Actually you have the conditions of Hammond and Tioga reversed. The Tioga river has the mine acid problem, not Hammond lake.

Wow, comical. Guess I've always called each by the other's name! I suppose it's apparent I never did more than drive past either myself. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the clarification and detailed report. I'm pointing my dad to this thread (I'm going to blame him for my having the names backward! He'll say it was my mistake and he'll probably be right.)

I knew the Tioga river had mine acid trouble (I was told the rocks used to be a strange orange color) but somehow thought it ended up in Hammond. Guess that wouldn't make sense given the names would it?! Once again, didn't want to cause alarm and of course you must be right - if there was trouble, it would be posted at the lake or in the book. I don't suppose slightly acidic water would be dangerous anyway.