Boats for rent

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Boats for rent


Cane Creek

University Lake
Photos by Alex Webb for the News & Observer
Mike Zlotnicki, lake information compiled by Alex Webb
No boat? No problem. It's easy to rent one to fish local lakes.
It has been said many times that a boat is a hole in the water in which to pour money. Just ask any angler. If you have no hole of your own, don't fret. There are a surprising number of venues in the Triangle that offer low-cost alternatives to ownership or shore fishing. Sure, the boats are small -- typically aluminium johnboats (flat-bottom skiffs) and canoes -- and propulsion is either elbow grease or electric motor.

The boats may be basic, but the fishing can be fantastic, easily on par with the larger reservoirs in the area. Most of these smaller lakes can also offer some things the bigger lakes can't, such as smaller crowds, less noise and creature-comfort amenities (concessions, restrooms) relatively close at hand. For the cost of a round of golf, you can fish all day and give the boat back when you're done.

This week we feature Orange and Durham counties; next week we'll explore Wake County.

University Lake, Orange County

Size: 213 acres


Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.


Rentals and fees: Johnboats for rent, electric motors available, six canoes and one square stern canoe for use with an electric motor. For Orange County residents, the following fees apply: fishing permit, $8 per half day for the first person and $4 for each additional adult. Children under 12 and seniors 65 and over, $2. Private boat launching fee is $3. Electric motor rentals, $14 per half day. Non-Orange County residents, fishing permit, $12 per half day for the first person and $5 for each additional adult. Launch fee, $6. Electric motors, $20 per half day.


Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size can be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.


Facilities: Boat dock and separate handicapped accessible fishing dock. Personal boats can be launched, but no trailers or gas motors are allowed.

'Like a river'


University Lake was built in 1932 as a water supply lake and recreational lake. With excellent crappie and bass fishing and a location near Chapel Hill, it is a popular family fishing destination. Randy McClelland, 43, is in the biotech field and takes his family to University Lake four or five times a summer. "We usually fish with worms for bream. I like the lake because it is like a river with all the trees on the sides," he said.


Good bait choices besides red wigglers, are top water baits early in the day and soft plastics in Junebug color later in the day for bass. The Jones Ferry Road bridge seems to always hold crappies and minnows, and jigs are both effective on them.

Cane Creek Reservoir, Orange County

Highway 54 West, Chapel Hill, 919-942-5790, owasa.org/Facilities/Recreation.aspx


Size: 540 acres


Days/hours: Saturdays only, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.


Rentals and fees: Johnboats for rent, electric motors available, eight canoes and four square stern canoes for use with electric motors. For Orange County residents the following fees apply: fishing permit, $8 per half day for the first person and $4 for each additional adult. Children under 12 and seniors 65 and over $2. Private boat launching fee is $3. Electric motor rentals, $14 per half-day. Non-Orange County residents, fishing permit, $12 per half day for the first person and $5 for each additional adult. Launch fee, $6. Electric motors, $20 per half day.


Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.


Facilities: Boat dock and bank fishing. Personal boats can be launched but no trailers or gas motors are allowed.

Plenty of bass


With growing water demands in southern Orange County, Cane Creek was impounded in 1989 and opened for public recreation in 1993. Eric Barnhardt, lake warden at Cane Creek notes that Cane Creek is different from other reservoirs in the area. "We don't have the forage [other reservoirs have] and the [N.C.] Wildlife [Resources] Commission has recommended that people keep bass under 15 inches to keep from getting over populated."


Barnhardt's recommendation for bass is to use a top-water bait early and then a cotton candy-colored worm or deep diving crankbait that will get down to 15 feet later in the day.


"There are some tremendous granite outcrops near deep water that hold a lot of fish," said Barnhardt.


He also recommends that whatever type of bait you are using, popping bugs on a fly rod or crappie jigs, you can't go wrong with chartreuse as your color choice in Orange County.

Lake Michael, Orange County

7300 Lebanon Road, Mebane, 919-563-4573, www.cityofmebane.com/ lakemichaelpark.asp


Size: 59 acres


Days/hours: Monday, Thursday through Sunday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Opens at 1 p.m. on Sundays.


Rentals and fees: Johnboat rental $4 per day, (five boats available), no motors for rent. Launch fee is $4. Fishing $2 per day. Children under 6, senior citizens and handicapped, free.


Creel limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size can be kept. No creel or size limits on bream or crappie. Creel limit for catfish is six per day, no minimum size.


Facilities: Two piers and boat ramp. Personal boats can not exceed 17.5 feet in length, no motor restrictions. No personal watercraft (i.e. jet skis) and no water skiing allowed.

Sit back and relax


The lake office is right on the lake and has a covered back porch with some rocking chairs to relax. Tommy Lawrence of Mebane was recently parked in one of those rockers and said he has fished Lake Michael almost since it was built in the 1950s.


"I like to bass fish but don't get out as much as I used to," said the 66-year old Food Lion retiree. "If I was going now I would use a Texas-rigged plastic worm in a red shad color. The crappie fishing is good here too but with all the development in the area, the water gets muddy when we have a hard rain," Lawrence said.


Lake Michie, Durham County

2303 Bahama Roa., Durham, 919-477-3906, www.durhamnc.gov/departments/parks/lakes.cfm


Size: 480 acres


Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.


Rentals and fees: There are three johnboats with motors and six canoes are available for rent. Johnboat and canoe rental is $5 for a half day, $10 for a full day. A boat with an electric motor is $15 for a half day and $25 for a full day. Launch fee is $5. Bank and dock fishing is $2. No swimming and no personal watercraft are allowed.


Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on bream, catfish or crappie.


Facilities: Boat ramp and handicapped accessible dock, fishing is permitted off the boat dock. All types of boats are allowed, including gas motors.

The place for bass


Roy Jeffries, a 67-year-old retiree from Duke Power works parttime at the lake and commented about how good the bass fishing is there. "The [N.C.] Wildlife [Resources] Commission recently shocked the lake, and the biologist said it was one of the best lakes in North Carolina for bass."


Jack Ellis, 54, a material handler with Becton Dickson and a frequent angler at Michie said, "I think what makes a difference in this lake is that it is only open three days a week and is not used that much. If I was going [bass fishing] today, I would use a Carolina rig with a Junebug [color] worm or lizard."

Little River Reservoir, Durham County

The intersection of Orange Factory and Blalock roads in Durham County, 919-477-7889, www.durhamnc.gov/departments/parks/lakes.cfm


Size: 540 acres


Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.


Rentals and fees: There are 21 johnboats with motors available for rent but no canoes. Johnboat rental is $5 for a half day, $10 for a full day. A boat with an electric motor is $15 for a half day and $25 for a full day. Launch fee is $5. Bank and dock fishing is $2. No swimming and no personal boats are allowed.


Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.


Facilities: Boat dock with handicapped accessible fishing.

Go deep


Anthony Parker, 48, from Durham, works at Duke Hospital and has fished Little River Reservoir for more than 10 years. "This lake is real good for crappies and bass; some places it's 50 feet deep," he said. "At this time of year, I use a Texas rig or Carolina-rigged red shad [Berkley] Powerbait for bass. One of the reasons it is good is that there are a lot of feeder creeks."

West Point on the Eno kayak and canoe rentals, Durham


Frog Hollow Outdoors ( www.froghollowoutdoors.com/index_files/Page5257.html) of Durham offers canoe and kayak rentals each Saturday and Sunday until early October at West Point on the Eno park in Durham. Canoes are $12 per hour and kayaks $8 per hour. Instructional classes are also offered.

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