The northeastern part of Pymatuning Lake, east of the spillway and three miles (5 km) south of Linesville, is a protected gameland where colonies of 20,000 Canada geese and many more ducks winter each year.

The lake is the result of an earth dam three miles (5 km) north of Jamestown, Pennsylvania, whose outflow forms the Shenango River.

The Seneca were defeated by General Anthony Wayne's forces during the Northwest Indian War and left the area under the terms of the Treaty of Greenville.

The earliest European visitors were trappers trading in beaver pelts, and lumbermen harvesting white pine trunks used as masts for sailing ships.

Farm animals that wandered off were often lost in the quicksands of the swamp or fell prey to predators like foxes, bears and mountain lions.

Valid Ohio and Pennsylvania license holders are permitted to fish from a boat anywhere on Pymatuning lake, regardless of the state line.