Lobster Lake (Maine)

Lobster Lake
Lobster Lake
Lobster Lake
LocationPiscataquis County, Maine
Coordinates45°51′N 69°32′W / 45.850°N 69.533°W / 45.850; -69.533
Primary outflowsLobster Stream
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. length4.7 mi (7.6 km)
Max. width1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Surface area3,380 acres (1,370 ha)
Max. depth106 feet (32 m)
Water volume88,897 acre⋅ft (109,653,000 m3)
Surface elevation965 ft (294 m)

Lobster Lake in the North Maine Woods was named because its shape resembles the outline of a lobster claw. The larger eastern arm of the lake extending southward is Big Claw and a smaller western arm is Little Claw. Lobster Stream connects the northwest corner of the lake to the West Branch Penobscot River 1.4 miles (2.3 km) north of the lake. Lobster Lake and the river are at a similar elevation; so the West Branch may temporarily reverse flow through Lobster Stream into the lake during peak runoff events from the western Maine highlands along the Canadian border. The lake has self-sustaining populations of native lake trout and land-locked Atlantic salmon; but brook trout populations are suppressed by competition from yellow perch and white perch.