# killdeer reservoir decommission



## Skip Hoffman

was told they were draining and not moving the fish from it, there was a article in upper paper but cant get it on computer anyone out there have any insite on this?


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## AtticaFish

Quick search and found this news story.............

http://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/fishermen-upset-about-draining-of-killdeer-reservoir


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## M R DUCKS

When the leak was first discovered, I heard there was a dispute over who should take care of it...Div. of Water said Div. of Wildlife....Wildlife said Water.....and here we are today.
I attended the small school there, Marseilles, when the reservoir was built...school is now gone also...we all got out of school and stood on the reservoir top as Governor Gilligan flew in on a helicopter to "throw the switch" to start pumping water from the Tymochtee Creek.
Sad to see it go.


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## odell daniel

I grew up in Larue a few miles away, I spent hundreds if not thousands of hrs on that lake. It was 40' deep and full of smallies and walleye... my honey hole, I hate to see it now its a damn shame.


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## odell daniel

they let pond 33 go to hell too, that fish kill was 3 years ago, has anyone heard if they have re-stocked it yet?Pond 30 is pretty much dead also, seems like all they care about up there is a couple eagles nesting, odnr just doesn't worry about the fish enough, even upper sandusky resevoir"once full of 5lb bass" is dead,C'mon man.


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## BFG

Too bad...I used to fish there at lot when I was younger. We used to fish 33 as well.


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## trekker

Budget cuts to state agencies is why this couldnt be fixed. Had to pay for the elimination of the estate tax somehow and this is how they did it. But hey, atleast the big boys got their tax cut.


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## AtticaFish

It is a shame to hear it go by the way side. All that dirt moved for no purpose......... sure hope they can put what infrastructure they already have in place (the dike walls) to good use. If they want it to stay empty, has a great potential to be a decent marsh land.


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## odell daniel

I heard last night..they are done draining water out of the lake and they are leaving it the way it is. I'd say their is a hole in the southwest corner that is still 14',,, crappie, bass, catfish, should still thrive in their. not sure if it still has walleye or not I havent fished it in a few years.


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## WLAngler

Didn't even know that about pond 33, no wonder I didn't get a bite.


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## crittergitter

trekker said:


> Budget cuts to state agencies is why this couldnt be fixed. Had to pay for the elimination of the estate tax somehow and this is how they did it. But hey, atleast the big boys got their tax cut.


That's not correct at all. Money for ODOW projects comes from excise taxes on fishing and hunting supplies. NONE of that can go to general fund or other state budget interests. It MUST be allocated for fishing or hunting related projects. They built a new marina down on Ceasars Creek Reservoir. Alum Creek State Park got new parking lots for the boat ramps (weren't needed). So, I agree that they could've and should've spent money to better take care of this resource especially since there are few resources available in the NW part of the state. Sad really.


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## AtticaFish

crittergitter said:


> ......They built a new marina down on Ceasars Creek Reservoir. Alum Creek State Park got new parking lots for the boat ramps (weren't needed)............


I believe most of the SP improvement projects were actually worked right in to the state budget. There are a TON of projects on the table for the State Parks and campgrounds right now. Everything from dam repairs, new marinas, re-paving roads, upgrading camp sites to full service, cabin renovations, new restrooms and shower houses, lodge repairs, and on and on. It is a BIG list, check it out here..... http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/improvementprojects

The rest of this is total personal opinion.......... I've always thought that NW Ohio seems to get over looked a lot when it comes to the DNR. Granted, there are some gigantic wildlife areas on the Erie shore to take advantage of (Pickerel Creek, Magee & Metzger Marsh) along with the big East Harbor and Maumee Bay state parks. My guess (and only a guess) is that the spending priorities lean towards those high visibility and high traffic areas along Erie. The inland sparsely populated farming areas just do not have the draw of people that would make it worthwhile to drop big money on projects.


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## crittergitter

AtticaFish said:


> I believe most of the SP improvement projects were actually worked right in to the state budget. There are a TON of projects on the table for the State Parks and campgrounds right now. Everything from dam repairs, new marinas, re-paving roads, upgrading camp sites to full service, cabin renovations, new restrooms and shower houses, lodge repairs, and on and on. It is a BIG list, check it out here..... http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/improvementprojects
> 
> The rest of this is total personal opinion.......... I've always thought that NW Ohio seems to get over looked a lot when it comes to the DNR. Granted, there are some gigantic wildlife areas on the Erie shore to take advantage of (Pickerel Creek, Magee & Metzger Marsh) along with the big East Harbor and Maumee Bay state parks. My guess (and only a guess) is that the spending priorities lean towards those high visibility and high traffic areas along Erie. The inland sparsely populated farming areas just do not have the draw of people that would make it worthwhile to drop big money on projects.


Ok, that's a bit more comprehensive look at it. Also, you made a great point about volume of users getting a priority.


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## laynhardwood

I agree with the sparsely populated regions receiving less attention. It only makes sense to put more money into places that get a ton of visitors. The state does have a ton of Projects coming up soon.


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## Weekender#1

Hey that was for drinking water for the small town, that should have had some bearing in the discussion. but who cares, those are the small people. I say that in jest. I took some people up to the top of the ramp during a day of hunting, that had not been there, it blew their minds, you can see how much money was poured into building that newer body of water. You are not walking around in it yet, that is for sure.


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## Weekender#1




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## trekker

What a shame.


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## AtticaFish

Weekender#1 - How recent were those pictures taken?


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## Weekender#1

I took the photos during last weeks Deer Gun season. Earlier in the hunting season I did see a couple of jon boats out on the res fishing. But no contact was made.


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## Weekender#1

Last photo I took


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## AtticaFish

Thanks - I would have assumed there would be even less water in it than that. Looking at the topo map from the DNR website, i would certainly think there should be a deeper section of water on the South side of the reservoir. If they keep it at that level, all that shallow water throughout the rest of the lake does have potential to be a decent marshland.


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## odell daniel

maybe if it stays like this it could still hold fish, I wish I could have had a visual on the reefs and humps 20 yrs ago they really went all out building it for fish to thrive. be tough to get the old deep v in there now.


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## AtticaFish

^ Yup, i agree. ^ Not too many reservoirs around here were built with the fish in mind. I believe i read somewhere that the Killdeer Reservoir was built more to supplement the flow of the Sandusky River during dry years than for drinking water. Built with conservation in mind from the beginning! It is very sad to see that effort go south for the ODNR. When cities have the main interest, they want the biggest, deepest, most anally geometric thing they can afford. Bellevue has one that is a perfect circle and another that is a perfect square.

Sure hope they keep it at the current level and do not drop it any more.


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## Weekender#1

The state is not releasing the water at a controlled rate, it is leaking and will leak out to the level of the leak. Is that where it is now, I don't know. Every time I drive up there it seems a little lower.


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## odell daniel

dang lake will be wadeable by spring..lol, kayaks and canoes will be perfect. most of my life I caught walleye ,smallmouth, catfish and perch from there, I dont know how or when crappie were introduced but they were thriving after the change. I came across couple guys(father and son) that had cut the corner too close and their pontoon was stuck in the ditch, they had a cooler full of nice crappie, I had never seen one from there till that day.


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## runningantelope

Well I was still fishing it out of my kayak up till Nov. 16. I was able to catch my limit of crappie in the 10.5" to 11.75" range that day. Caught a nice 16.75" smallmouth that day also.


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## M R DUCKS

Second hand update. My Buddy called me today 4/11. Killdeer Upground Reservoir is empty! He said they cut a large notch in the SW wall and drained it completely. I was up there near the end of Dec. and I'm guessing it was down 15' or so. I took pictures and video back then.


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## M R DUCKS

If it worked, here are the pictures from Dec 27 2016.


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## M R DUCKS




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## M R DUCKS

That was a mess....sorry


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## avantifishski

odell daniel said:


> they let pond 33 go to hell too, that fish kill was 3 years ago, has anyone heard if they have re-stocked it yet?Pond 30 is pretty much dead also, seems like all they care about up there is a couple eagles nesting, odnr just doesn't worry about the fish enough, even upper sandusky resevoir"once full of 5lb bass" is dead,C'mon man.


The upper Sandusky resevoir is dead atleas #1 is..


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## odell daniel

killdeer reservoir is totally drained and they have cut 2 big sections out on the west side. built in 1971 we have watched the birth and death of a great fishery.


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## avantifishski

Terrible


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## runningantelope

Pictures are from Thursday April 13. What a shame. One less spot to fish in the area.


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## Rembis50

Any update on what killdeer is looking like? I'd definitely be interested in trying to fish it via wading


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## AtticaFish

...............check the pictures above your post from April 16th. Looks pretty well dry to me except for maybe those deeper holes that were on the South end.


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## shotgunner61

Was at upper reservoir last year odnr was there shocking fish and taking the big ones out to start elsewhere. Didnt think you were allowed to transfer fish from one spot to another?


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## M R DUCKS

looks like it could be turned into a moto-cross course


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## avantifishski

shotgunner61 said:


> Was at upper reservoir last year odnr was there shocking fish and taking the big ones out to start elsewhere. Didnt think you were allowed to transfer fish from one spot to another?


Was this new reservoir or old one?


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## shotgunner61

The new one


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## avantifishski

How many big bass did they take


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## odell daniel

hopefully they took the fish to upper, that lake is in trouble. Has anyone caught any bass in the newer reservoir this year, they were pretty much dead by the end of summer. I wonder how many walleye were still at Marseilles? They could probably live in upper too.


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## odell daniel

I misread the report sorry, I thought they shocked the fish in Marseilles.


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## avantifishski

2yrs ago bass were thriving in Upper was there a fish kill?


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## Skip Hoffman

friend of mine fished it last weekend (new upper res) said they caught a few keeper perch, a lot of nice gills and a couple channel cats, they need to do something about the vegetation it gets bad in late summer


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## avantifishski

You gotta use the Punch baits in summer


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## odell daniel

avantifishski said:


> 2yrs ago bass were thriving in Upper was there a fish kill?


we were fishing upper reservoir last summer catching big bass and a lot of small 1 lb ers, one day late summer we put the boat in and started noticing 4 and 5 lb bass floating dead and we only caught one that day, we went back a week later and didn't catch one, been back a few times and still no bass. A guy up there told me they spray weed killer around the lake and he watched them do it on a real windy day, may have blown that spray across the lake. not sure though?


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