Renting a Boat in Western PA: Arthur, Presque Isle, Raccoon...

I've been enjoying the site for some time, and finally joined. It's a great forum with very helpful info.

I'll be heading out tomorrow with a newbie, looking to rent a boat and I'm wondering what would be the best lake for mid-day bass fishing. I've rented before at Presque Isle and I know the Bay pretty well, but a full day rental on Erie exceeds $100! I'm considering Lake Arthur, which rents 14' Jons with 9.9hp motors, or Raccoon, which only rents boats with trolling motors.

Basically, I'm just hoping to get into a few bass. I haven't fished Arthur in over 7-8 years (recently moved back to PA), and I've never had a "good" day on that lake. I'm thinking it will probably be pretty slow - we won't get on the water until 9-10 a.m., and we'll be off by early evening.

Also, I've never fished Raccoon and based on reports, it doesn't sound like a "bass first" kind of lake? Any recommendations on one of these three? Any suggestions for another area lake - within an hour or two of Pittsburgh?

Thanks for any advice!

Arthur is expensive & they don't cut you any breaks. Pymatuning @ the Espyville launch is much better - around $65 for the whole day (8-6) for a 16 footer, & $95 for a pontoon, M-F only. I usually rent there.
Cross Creek also rents boats (electric), but I don't know the rates.
Wilhelm also rents - cheaper than Arthur but more than Pymatuning.

Pymy rentals.  http://www.pymatuning.com/BoatRentals.htm

Thanks everyone very much for the links! I appreciate the help and quick responses. We decided to move the trip to Sunday so my buddy's wife could join us, but I'm thinking mostly because my buddy had a little too much fun at the McCartney concert last night! That 7 a.m. wake up call wasn't going to happen. Unfortunate, I'm sure the lakes would have been much less crowded on a weekday. But now I see there are more options too. We're going to do Wilhelm or Presque Isle, and I think I'll try Cross Creek or Wilhelm next weekend on my own.

donpgh - Great info, I had no idea all of these lakes rented. Guess I should have been more thorough with my research. I think I'd prefer Wilhelm of the three, I've had the best luck there, though that was 10 years ago.

eyesandgillz - Thanks for the tip on Wilhelm. The last time I fished it was with an older bass buddy in his boat. All I can remember is flipping shallow submerged trees; caught one of my first bass over 3 pounds in PA. I'm motivated to get back there. I've been checking all the PA Bass Club tourney results and Pymatuning and Wilhelm really stand out for size and numbers - though timing could be the biggest factor.

H20Wolf - I'm looking into that site, thanks. I'm probably a bit to "proud" to resort to a guide in my home state for bass. The prices seem in line with what I'm used to elsewhere, but still about twice a rental, minimum. I will say, I've never caught a musky, and I've always wanted to. You gave me a great idea for the fall!

We went to Presque Isle Bay today. Very slow day despite what appeared to be ideal conditions. Caught one LMB on a custom stick bait, my friends were skunked. Fished mostly around the Monument, then up the shoreline all the way towards Niagra Launch.

Covered quite a lot of weeds looking for weedlines at different depths from the shore all the way to the channel into deeper water. Then got desperate and fished the marina. Rough day. Ideal cloud cover, completely overcast and decent wind and waves 1 ft or less for the most part in the Bay - not enough to make boating in a 14' jon difficult at all. Low 70s temps until the sun finally broke after 1 p.m. Don't know if the fronts locked them up or what, or maybe we just weren't fishing the right areas.

Typically I stick to small mouth patterns in the Bay regardless of the season and end up with plenty of large mouths as a result. Today I actually tried to target the LM with some larger profile lures, and then downsized after a few hours. We were off that water at 4. Would have stayed longer but the slipped disc and siatica in the back told me I had more than enough.

donpgh - I would be interested in splitting a trip to either Wilhelm, or possibly Pymatuning. Prefer Wilhelm. I'll send a PM and see if we can't get on the water in the next week or so.