Oddly enjoyable. Kinda sad seeing them flopping around until i studied up and realize they're all fine.

If you're looking for a classy, peaceful nature outing turn back now. But if you want to witness an absolutely chaotic aquatic circus fueled by stale carbs and bad decisions, welcome to the Pymatuning Spillway. First of all, BYOB here doesn't mean Bring Your Own Booze. Bring Your Own Bread. White bread. Wheat bread. That one bun that's been in your freezer since 2019. Heck, I saw a guy chucking chunks of fruitcake like he was loading a t-shirt cannon. The fish don't care. The ducks don't care. You might care... until the feeding frenzy begins. The moment the bread hits the water, it's like Shark Week met a Black Friday sale at Walmart. Giant carp--literal underwater linebackers--erupt from the depths like they haven't seen a carb since the Reagan administration. And on top of that? Ducks just walking on them. Not swimming. Not paddling. Walking. On. The. Fish. Like Jesus on water if He were a mallard with zero manners. Kids scream. Parents laugh. One guy had a bag of Wonder Bread in a baby carrier like it was an heirloom. I'm pretty sure a seagull mugged someone for a slice of rye. There's no such thing as dignity here--just breadcrumbs and mayhem. Pro Tips: * Don't wear nice shoes. The bread goo gets everywhere. * Hold your bread tight unless you want to be mugged by a gang of pigeons with nothing to lose. * Bring extra, because once you start--you won't want to stop. It's that addictive. The Pymatuning Spillway is a beautiful mess. A masterpiece of Midwest chaos. A place where nature, gluttony, and old bakery products collide. 10/10, will return with Costco-sized loaves. read more

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Great place to take the kiddos to see all the carp. Can purchase loaves of day old bread to feed all the carp. Concession stand is reasonably priced and the food was good. read more

So much fun to feed the fish and the birds! And the bread was only $1.00 for a loaf, which still went quickly with all the competition to grab each piece. The staff member at the store there was also very nice. read more

Came to the Spillway, in the off season & some things were closed. We have also been here during the summer month's & really enjoy feeding the bird's and fish. Bring plenty of bread, because you will use it all up feeding birds & fish. Small area to get something to drink or munch on. A great place to see!!! read more

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8-1-19~This is one of the neatest places we've been. It's called, "where the ducks walk on the fish". One look at the photos and you can see why. Bring lots of bread! If you forget bread they sale it for a dollar a loaf at the concession stand. We brought bread but bought 7 more. This is so much fun. We threw a whole loaf several times just to start a huge feeding frenzy. The fish sometimes wind up on top of the other fish. Out of water and they still try and get the bread. They are not starved! They have a huge lake to swim in but come to the edge where LOTS of people are there to feed them. Definitely bring the kids. They would LOVE this! If you get hot there are slurpees and other snacks and drinks. Reasonably priced. You can even get a t-shirt that says, "where the ducks walk on the fish". Highly recommend! I will definitely stop here again if I'm ever in the area!!!! read more

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Can you have any more fun than feeding carp bread? Well, probably but this was actually a high spot in our travels. There is a gift shop that sells loaves of bread 2 for a dollar for the tourist to throw out to the fish. This is one of the few spots in the whole United States that allow this as it has been a tourist spot since the 1930s when the spillway as first constructed. I think the best part was to watch the little children giggle and laugh with delight. The slogan of this place is "where ducks walk on fish", and they DO! I have a video to prove it. Bring your camera, bring some bread, and be amazed. read more

Pymatuning Spillway - Geese, ducks and lots of big carp - Parks Near Me

A visit here really takes me back. My family used to camp nearby when I was a kid and the spillway was a frequent stop. Yeah, it's kind of gross and disgusting. But it's also so cool you can't look away. The big draw here is feeding the ducks and fish and just watching what happens. Sometimes the fish fight over the bread, sometimes the ducks fight the fish...sometimes the ducks are too stupid to realize you're throwing bread at them and it hits them in the beak. It's still tons of fun (and a little cleaner/less smelly). The bread is still cheap if you forget to bring your own. I would definitely recommend this to families with kids. Even I was entertained for hours. read more

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I've been here twice...it's an interesting place. Kinda gross but interesting lol! There's a million carp basically fighting over bread....there's just so many of them flopping all around you can't help it but to watch. It's cool if you are just passing through and find it, but I wouldn't make a day trip to go see it. read more

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Great place to take the family to and spend time. It is widely known as a place"Ducks walk on the fish"... However, on a hot summer night, it is also known as: Linesville Spillway, the place the drunks walk on the ducks. read more

We stopped by spillway after a trip to Lago Winery. This is by far one of the weirdest and coolest things I have ever seen in my life. It is literally a cesspool of carp fighting for room to live and a piece of bread thrown by an onlooker. We were there for almost two hours and honestly I could have spent even more time there. It is just mesmerizing to look at. We went here with my husband's family and they knew all the ins and outs. There was a house we stopped at on the way that you can buy bread on the honor system. I apologize for not knowing where it is located but it was very close to the spillway. I was only planning on buying two loafs and my father-in-law looked at me like I was crazy. He grabbed ten! When we got there I'm glad he bought that many. There are so many fish that you could go through fifty loafs and still feel like you want to continue. There are restroom facilities, a snack counter and tables to sit down at too. After we fed the carp we bought ice cream and enjoyed the beautiful day. I highly recommend going here! It's free and all you need is bread to have a good time! read more

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Who woulda thought looking at giant carp Would be so fun (no seriously..) I remember being a kid and coming here with my family to feed the fish. My bf is from Florida and never witnessed this. I figured it Would be a great stop on our way home from erie. Bring you own bread but they also sell it $1 per loaf at the little store. They also sell ice cream, drinks & souvenirs. $5 minuimin card purchases. This park is a cool spot read more

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At first you think, "Wow, that's interesting". Then you start to think,"Wow, that's bizarre". Then you start to notice all the people throwing bread, old stale bread bought from a shanty along the roadside into the water, flocks of Canadian geese (who I might add are like a plaque along the great lakes) and god only knows what else! You then start to think, "yeah that's gross"!! definitely neat to see, but don't let your kids in the water! read more

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Duuuuude! This place gets 5 stars for the ogle factor! The Fella and his folks took me here a while back, and he snapped some pictures during his recent trip home. The spillway at Pymatuning creates a lake that is stocked with fish from a local hatchery. Unfortunately, these fish kinda get stuck on the man-made waterfall which results in a literal cesspool of fish. Really. Folks come here with stale bread to feed the fish, and the ducks get in on the action too, sometimes standing on the bodies of the piled up fish! If you're in the area and want something unusual to do, come by and check this out. This is also kind of a biker hangout, too. You'll see lots of these weekend warriors out there goggling at the fish. Oh, yeah, and the original Quaker Steak isn't too far away in Sharon, PA as well. Overall: Worth it if you're in the area. read more

Pymatuning Spillway - Parks Near Me

A lot of fun wildlife watching! Maybe you will spot someone watching an eagles nest and you can take a peak! Bring lots of old bread for the fish, ducks, and birds. They just love it! It truly is a sight to see. The first time I went I was in shock! So cool! They also sell some delicious snack foods. I have gone multiple times and have taken many friends. I just love seeing everyone's first reactions to this sight! Great for kids! read more

You wouldn't think that feeding fish would be considered a fun activity, but you've got to try it out for yourself. At The Pymatuning Spillway you can feed thousands of ugly carp fish as much bread as you want. Oh, and don't forget to feed some hungry ducks too! Before you come to the Spillway, you should stop by the store or bread shack along the highway to purchase some discounted bread. There is also a concession stand at The Spillway that sells bread. We brought about 12 bags of bread, which I thought would be overkill, but I wish I had brought even more! I expected to spend about 20 minutes here before becoming bored out of my mind from feeding fish, but I was indeed wrong. We spent about 90 minutes here and we ended up leaving because we ran out of bread. The entertaining part about The Spillway is the massive quantity of carp that fight over the bread pieces when they are thrown in to the water. It's really quite a site to see so many fish swimming on top of one another just to get some bread. The second time we came back I had the bright idea of creating a basketball of bread. We used about ten bags of bread and water to soften it. We smashed together a ball of bread and threw it down for the fish. It was pretty funny to watch this ball of bread crowd surf over the carp. I think this is a great activity for families and children. Kids are usually really excited to see and feed the carp. On a side note, It would be horrible to accidentally fall in to The Spillway. I can't imagine being smothered by thousands of hungry carp fish. Yikes! Thankful for the steel guardrails that keep people from falling in - Let's hope they hold up over the years! read more

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I can't believe someone reviewed the Spillway... "Where the Ducks Walk on the Fish"! Every year when I was a kid, my family traveled out to PA to visit Conneaut Lake Park, and on the way we'd visit the Pymatuning Spillway. It was a great thrill for us to buy old loaves of bread for a dollar from the gift stands and feed the fish and ducks... they literally overlap each other in the water, and tussle for the balls of bread. It's really a sight, and to tell the truth, still fun when you're an adult. :) Add to that the fun little trinkets you can buy at the gift stands (tourist-y stuff like magnets and postcards, little toys, etc.) and the fun of watching little kids stare in amazement, and the Spillway definitely makes my list of fun places to go on a road trip. read more

There was a moment when I thought, this is precisely why we work....to buy bread that has gone bad, to throw at fish, birds, and ducks. It sounds so dumb, yet is so fun. First, my children loved it. They giggled the whole time and had a blast, even the 19 month old got into the act. I too enjoyed the moment, trying to get the birds flying around to catch the bread I was throwing up to them. And if you do it right, you can get the ducks to walk on the fish to steal a piece of bread from the massive fish. It makes virtually no sense, but when you do it, it's fun for just about everyone, including the Amish who stopped by too. read more

Great place to visit. Stop at a little shack to buy your bread on the way there. afterwards visit deerpark and the fish hatchery read more

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Very popular place to visit while in jamestown/Linesville. We camp nearby and whatever bread we hadn't eaten over the weekend, we take here and feed the fish. The seagulls walk on the backs of the fish. It's pretty neat to see. It's called the spillway because there is an area here that water spills over a little "reservoir" and the fish spill into the reservoir. Fun for kids especially. read more

Pymatuning Spillway - Birds - Parks Near Me

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Can't beat this place. We always bring Company to the spillway without exception. Kids love it and so do the adults.

Now in my 50s, I've been enjoying periodic trips to Pymatuning Lake and its spillway my entire life. A Pittsburgh area native, my parents would occasionally detour there on our summer vacation trips to Presque Isle. Living in western New York during my adult life, when traveling back "home" for visits I too would sometimes detour there with my own children. My young grandchildren will have their first visit there later this summer! It's something so different, so amusing, so entertaining, and yes educational, that it's not to be missed. The size and density of the fish, the boldness of the ducks (and seagulls!) are fun things for children and adults alike. If you've never been there, it's well worth a side trip if you're driving along I-79 between Pittsburgh and Erie; if you haven't been there in years, it's worth a return visit to see the upgraded facility. read more

The kids love this place. They're always mesmerized by the quantity of the fish and how they follow you around like puppies looking to be fed. Loaves of bread can be purchased for $1 each or bring your own. They have a small snack shop and sell t-shirts and hoodies, reasonably priced. On a hot day, sometimes the smell can be overwhelming. read more

This was so much fun I got loads of pictures and a squished penny to add to my collection. We fed the fish and ducks if you threw the breed up at the right time the seagulls would catch them midair so much fun. I've never been anywhere like this. read more

Took my husband there today for tree first time. He's not from the area so he's never been. He loved it. Said he'd never seen anything like it, sms is looking forward to going again. read more