NB: This page was added after we returned.

After reading about this town on RoadsideAmerica.com, we decided we should pay a visit. Obviously it was of interest to us, as we sought out ducks all over the place anyway. To see them walking on fish would be even more exciting.
Yes, walking on fish…

Linesville seems to have created a completely unnatural balance in nature where a larger number of fish than normal can be sustained through tourism. Presumably the fish population was high for some reason once, and the tourists feeding them since then have allowed the situation to remain?

In any event, there is a weir where literally thousands of large fish (~ 2 foot long) teem so thick that when you throw bread into the water, the resident ducks walk over the backs of the fish rather than swim to get the bread. The fish, for their part, obviously go after the bread as well.

We ended up going here twice, as part of our loop around Pennsylvania, simply because Diana was feeling rather unwell the first time we visited, and was not able to fully appreciate it.

As the bread hits the water, it is a remarkable sight to see so many fish frantically trying to reach it, to the point where some are being pushed entirely out of the water, supported by other fish below the surface. A very diverting way to spend an hour or more…

Categories: Travel, Odyssey 2001