# Wingfoot Lake work



## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

I was talking with one of the State construction workers at Wingfoot yesterday Wednesday and asked him what they were doing in the park. He said they are getting ready to dredge and refurbish the Kiddie pond there. To aid them in doing this requires that they lower the lake level so just to let everyone know they are going to start lowering the lake level this Friday the 26th . They are going to drop the lake one foot. Not sure how his will affect the ice fishing but anyone going out on the ice should be cautious.


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## BIGEYURK25 (Apr 4, 2013)

Whaler said:


> I was talking with one of the State construction workers at Wingfoot yesterday Wednesday and asked him what they were doing in the park. He said they are getting ready to dredge and refurbish the Kiddie pond there. To aid them in doing this requires that they lower the lake level so just to let everyone know they are going to start lowering the lake level this Friday the 26th . They are going to drop the lake one foot. Not sure how his will affect the ice fishing but anyone going out on the ice should be cautious.


Good call! They need to do it once ice comes off, becomes very dangerous otherwise!


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## brettmansdorf (Apr 5, 2013)

OH COME ON - imagine the stories and tails / tales from this one... 

There I was and the MONSTER perch pulled me through the ice - damn the one that got away...

My baits are SO GOOD - the swell of fish rushing towards me on the ice causes space between ice and water and eliminates the competition everywhere else...

Not to brag but... caught so many on my rig - and I do mean SO MANY - it lowered the water level...

Feel free to add more...


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## Tbomb55 (Nov 27, 2008)

Hopefully they will recover and dispose of all the tires.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Tbomb55 said:


> Hopefully they will recover and dispose of all the tires.


Don't count on that happening! Stay away-Hazardous!
(Mo fo me...)


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

There are no tires in the Kiddie Pond that I know of .


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## Minnowhead (Jan 12, 2011)

I grew up fishing that kiddie pond. I hope they dredge it deep. It was absolutely fantastic to catch fish in that pond. Great memories


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## avidhunter11 (Feb 12, 2013)

I am trying to figure out where is the kiddie pond. Is that the little pond on the left by the restrooms? That you can walk over the bridge and the main lake is on the right and Kiddie is on the left? If so I know a few guys that frog gig out of that pond


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## Eyegagger (Jan 13, 2018)

Somebody must have been stocking the kiddiePond back in the late 80s early 90s with large mouth. Any given day my little brother and I would go cast our then state-of-the-art Shimano bantam pistol grip baitcasters. We would cast Willow Leaf spinnerbaits past the aerator and after we get the bird's nests out of our reels,burn them back right below the surface and they would smash it! We thought we were Bass Pros. We grew up fishing Wingfoot , as my dad CJ Stone always worked for Goodyear his whole career. Thanks dad, and Wingfoot for many good memories!!!


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

Avidhunter, yes that's the Kiddie Pond.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Ok! There's actually TWO "kiddy" ponds. One by the restrooms with the bridge and another(larger) back towards the shallow ramp. The Goodyear park people stocked both and kept adults from fishing with signs


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## avidhunter11 (Feb 12, 2013)

c. j. stone said:


> Ok! There's actually TWO "kiddy" ponds. One by the restrooms with the bridge and another(larger) back towards the shallow ramp. The Goodyear park people stocked both and kept adults from fishing with signs


Is that back by where they have the ramp where you can rent pontoons.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Not the pontoon "bay". Directly behind the parking lot for the shallow water ramp. Don't know if reserved for juniors now that the State has it but assume so.


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

There was a guy fishing the trout pond the other day but he hadn't gotten any when I saw him.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Whaler said:


> I was talking with one of the State construction workers at Wingfoot yesterday Wednesday and asked him what they were doing in the park. He said they are getting ready to dredge and refurbish the Kiddie pond there. To aid them in doing this requires that they lower the lake level so just to let everyone know they are going to start lowering the lake level this Friday the 26th . They are going to drop the lake one foot. Not sure how his will affect the ice fishing but anyone going out on the ice should be cautious.


Wonder if the eyes and white bass will run up Wingfoot Creek with the increased flow?


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## avidhunter11 (Feb 12, 2013)

c. j. stone said:


> Wonder if the eyes and white bass will run up Wingfoot Creek with the increased flow?


"Eyes" there are eyes in Wingfoot?


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Here we go!


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

I don't know about Eyes and Whitebass but do know that back when I worked in the powerhouse we controlled the level in Wingfoot because we sometimes needed more water for operations. One thing that happened almost every time we increased flow from the lake Frank Balint would get a call from an irate homeowner along the stream in Mogadore complaining about his basement getting flooded. We would have to cut back on the flow a little to satisfy him and our needs. There were many times that I had to go out and check the levels of Mogadore, Wingfoot and Springfield lakes in that order. We controlled the level of Springfield also. We checked the lake level from the dock on the Lakemore side but regulated outflow with a valve on the Sawyerwood side near where the senior center is now. We checked these lake levels year round and in the Winter had to bore holes in the ice so we could get an accurate water level measurement .


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

avidhunter11 said:


> "Eyes" there are eyes in Wingfoot?


There WERE many eyes in there maybe 25? Or so years ago! Goodyear and the Goodyear H&F Club stocked them(fingerlings, not fry) every year. Many folks targeted them and did "fair"! The fish did very well there, prob feasting on smaller panfish-and the panfish also were nicer sized with the addition of another predator, much as they were even more years before this with the stocking of NORTHERNS! Walleye CAN tolerate shallower/warmer water though they don't prefer it! We test netted fish in the Spring and after a few years of stocking, we'd get as many eyes in the net as panfish on occasion! My PB eye was 5#s! We could go there(w/my two sons) and usually pull two or three eyes any given day by slow trolling 1/8 oz curly tail jigs! A guy on here who bass fishes regularly told me(less than five years ago) that he occasionally would pull a Fish Ohio walleye while casting plugs(C&R) so I'd bet my truck there are a "few" left! Get the Vibees out! Before anyone gets the idea to poll the DNR to start stocking, forget that(I did when they bought the Park). They would never put walleye in waters(ever again) that eventually dumps into Erie for potential fear of infecting the eyes in Erie with "viruses" or other sickness!


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## Schuylkill (Jun 6, 2017)

Been fishing Wingfoot for over 55 years, always had a boat at either Sislers or Copelands landing, caught many eyes in the 90s and some nice bass as well. Back in the early 70s the bass fishing was excellent.


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## bubbster (Jun 2, 2013)

brettmansdorf said:


> OH COME ON - imagine the stories and tails / tales from this one...
> 
> There I was and the MONSTER perch pulled me through the ice - damn the one that got away...
> 
> ...


Seen a big rock offshore a couple of feet . When I went to step on it the big rock was a Walleye, and swam away! That story was told to my F in law at a fish camp in Canada.


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## joerugz (Feb 28, 2007)

Schuylkill said:


> Been fishing Wingfoot for over 55 years, always had a boat at either Sislers or Copelands landing, caught many eyes in the 90s and some nice bass as well. Back in the early 70s the bass fishing was excellent.


I used to fish it as a kid with my dad. Our boat was always at Jindra's. As an adult, I would pay Copelands fee ($10) to drop my row boat in and fish till dark. The lake was absolutely the best bass lake around till they opened to the public. Then bass were taken out by the stringer fulls. The stumps in Copelands bay and back by the sportsman club produced the best topwater action every evening. Sorry to see the bass go. Some days you could catch and release 10-25 big bass. I once caught back to back five pounders within 10 casts. Those were the days. Oh, and my buddy pictured with me, did catch a 25" eye about eight years ago on a crank bait.


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## Schuylkill (Jun 6, 2017)

joerugz said:


> I used to fish it as a kid with my dad. Our boat was always at Jindra's. As an adult, I would pay Copelands fee ($10) to drop my row boat in and fish till dark. The lake was absolutely the best bass lake around till they opened to the public. Then bass were taken out by the stringer fulls. The stumps in Copelands bay and back by the sportsman club produced the best topwater action every evening. Sorry to see the bass go. Some days you could catch and release 10-25 big bass. I once caught back to back five pounders within 10 casts. Those were the days. Oh, and my buddy pictured with me, did catch a 25" eye about eight years ago on a crank bait.


My dad and I also fished out of Jindras' and my dad would use a fly rod and popping bug and we would get loads of bass back around the stumps. I've seen the fishing go up and down over the years and hope it will be in an up cycle soon. My personal best bass (7 1/4 #) came out of Wingfoot in the early 90s.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Schuylkill said:


> I've seen the fishing go up and down over the years and hope it will be in an up cycle soon. My personal best bass (7 1/4 #) came out of Wingfoot in the early 90s.


I think the huge amount of channel cats the state has been stocking since they bought Wft will eventually greatly enhance the panfish sizes as those "cheap predators" get larger! Thinking it will become a great place to gather a bunch of pretty good eaters(the cats) much as Moggie has evolved into! Except for an abundance of golden shiners, smaller panfish will be the only food source available to them which will have a positive effect on the pannies(size wise)! Not sure what impact this will all have on the largemouths? but really don't think it will be bad. They will find forage of various types.


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