Moe Pond is a small

man-made lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock." History In 178 ...

, located northwest of

Cooperstown Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the C ...

. Moe Pond drains south via Willow Brook, which flows into Otsego Lake. Mount Ovis is located east and Hannah's Hill is located southeast of Moe Pond. The pond was named for Henry Allen Moe, a past member of the

New York State Historical Association The Fenimore Art Museum (formerly known as New York State Historical Association) is a museum located in Cooperstown, New York on the west side of Otsego Lake. Collection strengths include the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American India ...

. Moe Pond was created in 1939. The pond and surrounding area is currently privately owned by the

State University of New York at Oneonta The State University of New York College at Oneonta, also known as SUNY Oneonta, is a public college in Oneonta, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History SUNY Oneonta was established in 1889 as the Oneon ...

(SUNY Oneonta), which uses it for educational and research purposes only.

Fish populations

In 1995, a physical and chemical limnological summary as well as an ecological survey was conducted. It found a fish community consisting solely of

brown bullhead The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Ame ...

and

golden shiner The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a cyprinid fish native to eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Much used as a bait fish, it is probably the most widely pond-cultured fish in the United States. It can be fo ...

. It was believed that the large population of shiners was responsible for the decline in larger zooplankton, which leads to a decrease in phytoplanktivory and lower Secchi readings as a result of greater algal blooms. The study suggested that addition of smallmouth bass and

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, but ...

might reduce shiner populations through predation. However, after further assessment, a small population of smallmouth and largemouth bass were discovered in Moe Pond in 1999. It was estimated the bass, of unknown origin, were stocked in the spring of 1999.

References

{{authority control Lakes of New York (state) Lakes of Otsego County, New York