Robertson Mill Pond is a 60 acre mill pond located on Buffalo creek near the town of Wendell , NC This millpond on Buffalo Creek was impounded sometime around 1820 and has survivied countless hurricanes. Buffalo Creek is a tributary of the Little river in Johnston County and this millpond is located on mile 25 of Buffalo creek. This mill pond is now an 85 acre Wake County park and sees lots and lots of visitors. This is a great place to paddle and see a Bald Cypress forest. If you plan on fishing this millpond I would suggest during the months of April through September to fish it on a weekday. ( I will have a fishing video and a Drone video located at the bottom of this article ) and fishing info towards the bottom as well.
Park hours are from 8am till sunset 7 days a week and the park is closed on Thanksgiving day, Christmas eve, Christmas day and New Years so this Mill pond park provides 361 days of paddling pleasure! The park facility has 18 parking places, several places for vehicles with canoe/kayak trailers and a small field for over flow parking. No permanentbathrooms are here but they do have a porta-jon bathroom.
Here is a picture of the parking area
This millpond is very shallow but depths near the dam approach 10 feet. The millpond is NOT an open body of water . Basically 90 percent of this millpond you are paddling through a very tight Bald Cypress forest.
Here is an aerial photo of this Millpond and I have the mill ponds aprox banks traced. The brownish colored trees are the cypress trees.
Here is a map of the padde trail
Kayaks can be rented but to do that you need to connect with Tar River Life which handles the rentals.
Here are the boating rules for Robertson Mill Pond
Life jackets are required
Electric motors only, no gasoline motors
All NC fishing & boating regulations apply
There is no launch fee for your own kayak
Now for the fishing !
IMHO old millponds like this only provide so so fishing. That being said they can provide good days are are still fun to fish.
This is how I seem to have persuaded many many people into getting an Old Town 119 Discovery Canoe.
I have had one since the 90's and have been river fishing out of canoes since 1977 growing up on the Haw River. My First Solo Canoe was a Mowhawk Pack and then a bigger tamdem Old town 158 and then I aquired 2 Old Town 119's and for sure they are the best Solo River Canoe.
Here is my Youtube video on the Old Town 119
In the early 2000's I was a member of the now defunct fishing forum Georgia River Fishing. Through that forum I have met and fished with many great fishermen in Georgia one of them being Bill Prince.
Bill went by "Blackwater Bill" on this forum ( unfortunately he passed during covid) and at one time he was very disatisified with the fishing kayaks out there so I told him he should try out an Old town 119 which he did.
Now back up a little bit as I know for sure I have gotten many many North Carolinians in them, may be pushing 100 or more.
Here is the story of Blackwater Bill and the 119 he posted on the forum......
" Troy before the 119
Was cool, there was Mack from NC. When I got into the kayak ownership I started
with a Dagger Blackwater 12 sit inside, couldn't get out of it the first time I
tried it out. It was a gift from my wife. At the same time Cullfisher got an
Old Town sit inside, and he didn't like it either. I never took the sit inside
to the river, I sold it to Getthenet and bought a T 120 from Drew and it was
maybe 3rd hand then. Cullfisher sold the sit inside and bought a P13. I didn't
like the T 120 because I was too heavy for it and it threw me out or I bailed
out nearly every trip. I sold it to Braveswin and bought a Drifter. Cullfisher
sold the P13 and bought a Caper so he could stand up and fish. I could stand in
the Drifter in those days. I went through 3 or 4 Drifters usually owning two at
any given time. Because MacBass, Rockworm1 and Bassman1 all swore by their
electric powered canoes Cullfisher and I got one of them each. We still have
them and use them for long trips and camping and so forth where their freight
hauling and comfort is an advantage. Then came the Ultimate’s as the flavor of
the month. I sold my Drifters and got a U 12 which I hated immediately. After
two weeks I put it for sale and a man gave me a sot kayak and enough money to
buy a 119 for the U12. I won't call his name because he may regret that deal. I
later traded that sot he gave me for a new Drifter which I still have and I
won't call the man's name that made that trade either.
For about a year I had
stuck in the back of my mind was the fact that Mack from NC said the best river
boat he ever had was an Old Town 119. If you look at his signature he lists his
watercraft and he has 2 Old Town 119s. I have always been impressed with Mack's
"walking around sense". Therefore I checked out the 119 and found
that Old Town was making the Disco 119 for Dicks and calling it a Kaynoe so I
bought one with the boot that I got for the U12. MacBass thought I was crazy
when I showed up at Juliette with that boat. I tested it that day for draft,
stability and so forth and declared it to exceed my expectations. macbass
watched me and then wanted to test it. Just below half way shoals going toward
Poep's Juliette, MacBass got in it and stood and paddled around then tried to
push it over and couldn't, then paddled in water where his Drifter would get
stuck an the 119 floated right on. I then wrote an essay on how good I thought
that bought was. Other than Mack's 2 thats the only one I knew of that anybody
had. Now the rest is history. Since I wrote that essay, I could name maybe 2 or
3 dozen people who have gotten out of the Kayak usage and converted to 119s and
can't think of anybody that has been disappointed. The 119 is the solo canoe
par excellence"
He says above that he has got maybe 3 dozen in them which is because of me and I listed maybe a hundred for me but it maybe more.
Anyway, if you want a great solo boat the Old 119 is it.
Tropical Storm Chantal had the waters flooding over the dam. This Dam has 2 spillways but basically most of it is an earthan dam with Camp Easter Road being on top of the dam.
Here is a Bing map screenshot of it.
Here is a Picture of the water flowing over the Dam/road on July the 7th
Now here are Pictures of the Road , lake and dam area on August 2 2025 where you can see the water flowing over the road causing severe erosion on the downstream side of the road in several places.
The gates on the spillway have been opened and the Lake is currently drawn down 6-8 ft .
Right here you can see the 4 spillway gates are open.
Very sad, Hopefully they will fix all of this damage within the next year but it may take longer.
Hope Mills lake is a 150 Acre Blackwater lake located on Little Rockfish Creek right in the Town of
Hope Mills, NC. Origianly dammed in 1839 for a millpond the Dam broke in 2003
during a major flood and the new dam was not in place and closed until June 2008 and refilled in August of 2008. This dam had a fish ladder . This Dam failed in 2010 because of a sinkhole and then a new dam was started on in 2016 and finished it January of 2018. This new dam for whatever reason does not have a fish ladder like the last one. Why??
This Lake has Largemouth Bass , Crappie, Bream, Shellcrackers , Chain Pickerel, cChannel Cats,
Bullheads probably some Carp and even Flathead catfish. Also Amercans Eels as an "Eel Ladder was added to the new dam. Picture of that down below.
This Lake Also Has Alligators so be aware.
I will post a lot of the pictures of the area and ammenieties and comment if you fish this lake.
Warning! The Lake does have a swimming area and limited parking so I would avoid it
Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Also the lake can be divided into 2 Parts. The lower section below the track is bigger and has
Bald Cypress Trees on the edge. Houses are common but the water is deeper. Above the tracks
Cypress are found out from the banks and bream and Bass fising around these is better.
**A permit is need to launch a boat here. I Copied and pasted the info down near the bottom.***
The Ramp is very Nice but only single lane
Port a jons for Bathroons
The Fishing Pier or Observation Deck located to the left of the ramp. I have seen on the internet a Big Blue cat caught here . If I can find it I will post it at the bottom.
The Swimming area is to the right of the Ramp and swimmers cant swim outside the white buoys.
The Dam
The Eel Ladder
The Eel ladder is a square metal Box running from the bottom up beside the dam
ending at the lake where it dumps into a basket. Evidently so they can check
the basket and see how many made the climb.
You can click on this and make it Bigger and easier to read
The Lake has a covered Picnic/eating area and when swimming is allowed
they sell refreshments.
Lower End
Upper End
List of Rules etc for the Lake
Swimming at the lake runs Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend.
All boats, motorized and non-motorized must have a valid permit issued by the Town of Hope Mills Parks & Recreation Department. Boat Permits must be completed in-house at the Hope Mills Recreation Center (5770 Rockfish Road Hope Mills, NC 28348) during normal business hours, and are not available for online registration.
REQUIRED: Please make sure to bring a copy of a valid state watercraft registration and copy of insurance certificate showing liability coverage (if motorized)
HOPE MILLS LAKE IS A NO WAKE LAKE
Annual Boat Permit Duration: April 1 – March 31
HOURS
Monday - Saturday: Sunrise to 30 minutes prior to sunset
Sunday: 12:30 pm - 6:30 pm
No boat in excess of 26 feet in length shall be allowed on Hope Mills Lake, only Class A and Class 1 boats are authorized. Personal Water Craft (PWC) are not authorized for use on Hope Mills Lake AND ARE NOT ALLOWED.
PERMITS
Permits are required for all motorized boats and other vessels used on the lake. Fees listed below apply only to motorized boats. Although no fee, permits are required for all non-motorized vessels (i.e. canoes, kayaks, etc.).
Residents (motorized boats only)
Daily - $10
Yearly - $55
Non-Residents (motorized boats only)
Daily - $15
Yearly - $120
All permit fees are non-refundable.
Permit must be displayed on the starboard side of the registered boat at all times during its operation on Hope Mills Lake.
Non-resident permits may be limited in number at the discretion of the Parks and Recreation Department with input from Town Staff to prevent over-crowding.
The Hope Mills Parks & Recreation Department reserves the right to deny any request for a permit, and reserves the right to revoke any permit at any time when not abiding by established policies, rules and regulations governing the use of Hope Mills Lake.
Boats shall be launched and loaded only in areas designated for launching and loading, do not leave boat unattended.
Do not operate boat within 50’ of dam.
NO WATER SKIING
NO RACING
NO WAKE
NO ALCOHOL
Videos -
Nice Flathead Caight below the dam and a big Blue cat caught off the pier
When the dam was busted there had to be several(flatheads and Blues) if not many that made it up
and then got trapped when the new dam was completed.
Flathead Caught Below the Lake
Blue Cat caught from the Pier found of the Fishbrain App.
I enjoy anything in the outdoors. Mainly canoeing and fishing but, also hunting, hiking, I love to plant trees and also search for big trees.
I grew up just outside Burlington, N.C. where my parents house sat on a bluff overlooking the Haw River. I can thank the Haw for getting me started in the outdoors. I Have 2 YouTube Channels as well. Mack's Extreme River Fishing and Mack's Public Land Hunting.
Thnaks, Mack
