Seafury

Always good advice but rather impossible when boating. There is much gear to bring and some stuff always stays in the truck. My outing on Saturday went fine though, the place got full right after I arrived very late around 1pm. Lots of very nice helpful friendly folks! I love the people down here! This was my first visit on low tide, I saw a LOT of stumps I ran over at 20-30mph on my previous visits with no issues, won't be doing that again lol. Still have not hooked a single fish but I made progress this trip. I got one bite, though it may have been a gator idk because the bite was weird and violent and destroyed my senko worm which is unusual. I'm going to go back a few more times as this is the closest freshwater to me in Beaufort, but if I don't catch something soon I'm going to declare this water dead and move on to the Edisto river or something. I'm shocked tbh I see almost no one fishing here, yet there are no fish, I expected to catch lots of fish np, but so far this is worse than Northern VA fishing. Makes no sense to me. I need to make friends with a local bass fisherman somehow as EVERYONE I have talked to only fishes for saltwater fish, even boaters on this river, and none of them know anything about largemouth bass they claim. It's really frustrating that I am catching more fish bank fishing in tiny filthy shopping center ponds in town then on this beautiful river with a boat and expensive fish finder. The hunt continues!

Personally, being youngish still I love new tech and live sonar is a god send! I am looking forward to when I can afford to add it to my Garmin FF. I can't tell you how many days I've been skunked and wasted hours and days and hundreds of dollars on gas to have a crappy day of no fish and no fun. Many times I've debated giving up fishing because of it. I am strictly catch and release (Unless I land a record someday) so I don't see a problem. Just make all freshwater fish except catfish catch and release only, problem solved. Or at most 1 keeper per species max. None of our freshwater fisheries outside maybe the great lakes can handle a bunch of people harvesting, regardless of tech used or not. The very idea we even still allow people to take fish home makes me mad when I think about it and all the times I've been skunked due to pressure and plain lack of fish due to depletion by others both lawfully and a metric ton unlawfully. Live sonar is here to stay, and I could not be happier about it, just wish it was affordable for the common working man.

If anyone cares I will be on the upper Ashepoo river tomorrow morning 10/07/23. Likely putting in at Prices Bridge ramp or maybe Chessie/Folly Creek ramp but doubtful. Now that I found those public ramps, I don't see a reason to pay to use Joes Fish Camp ramp on Rt17. I just hope the public ramps are safe for my truck like the locals I met last Sunday claimed it is. If anything happens to my truck I will likely end up in jail after bringing the reckoning to the perp ?

Thanks for the advice but I won't subject my bass gear to saltwater knowingly, and the non-resident saltwater license is cost prohibitive. I am not paying to reregister in this state as I expect to move back to VA or at least upper NC by next summer. I'm basically here on contract work lol. I'm sure saltwater fishing is fun, but I hate messing with organic bait, sitting around in one place doing nothing waiting for a bite, and I don't eat fish so to me it's a big waste to even bother. Plus I just got an old small freshwater jon boat which will never touch saltwater. Thanks for the advice and offer! I have a small jon boat now and have been out on Moultrie 3 times. I have seen/spooked around 10 very large gators around the hatchery area, the lake is full of them according to state information. I also witnessed 2 large gators having a fight in the middle of the hatchery in 6ft of water roiling the surface for several minutes. Very scary and awesome at the same time! Moultrie and Murry have the most gators in the entire state, with Hilton head being 3rd, according to state information. Couple mouths back I went way up the Broad river above Colombia out of gator country but the river was brown like chocolate milk and swollen, no fish caught while bank fishing, it was very disappointing and a waste of lots of gas and time that day lol. I know most gators run from us, I've now witnessed it myself many times, but it only takes one that doesn't to ruin your life. I have better things to do with my life than risk it for no reason in a kayak down here. Now that I have a boat I just need to figure out where the river bass are in the Ashepoo/Edisto rivers west of Rte 17 on the freshwater side.

Thanks but no, I won't risk my life in a kayak around gators. I've now seen enough gators down here in person, and videos of them attacking kayakers (mostly in FL) to know thats a really bad idea. When it comes to large carnivores' lizards, anything they can get in their mouth is on the menu buddy. They all have different attitudes just like people, and it only takes one with an attitude problem to ruin your life. Thank you for the very generous offer! I now have my own 16ft aluminum jon boat so I have been exploring the nearest freshwater rivers and lake Moultrie a few times but I'm already tired of 1hr40min drive to get there. The freshwater side of rivers are only 30mins from me and exploring them has been a blast! Though I have yet to catch a single fish in the rivers as I need to learn these waters and where the bass are in the fall transition down here..... I need to find a local friend down here that also does freshwater fishing but so far no luck on that as I am not really outgoing and only go out to get food and grocery shopping since I work from home and don't drink lol.

Garmin allday every day. Nothing else compares. I researched this topic for months before deciding on my first fish finder. Garmin invented fish finders, and GPS navigation, everyone else is STILL playing catch up with their terrible images and trash live sonar. I have an OT 120 sportsman PDL with a Garmin 93SV (so I can add livescope someday) Mounted with Yakattack gear and transducer on a yakattack switchblade mount that goes over the side as using the bottom hull mount is suicide if you fish rocky bottoms, rivers and creeks like I do, or if you beach your yak, or forgot to pull that thing up one time. No thanks! Transducers cost a fortune! I don't use the cell block battery mount as that adds way too much weight to the side of the boat with my already way heavy 93SV mounted. My 18ah Lifep04 amazon battery is in a plastic ammo box placed in the front sealed hatch. The 93SV has everything any boat needs, chart plotter, excellent fish finder, depth, temp, very accurate GPS, mapping, preloaded maps, removeable SD cards, and is the cheapest unit that can be upgraded to livescope (the BEST active sonar hands down) I saved up my money and bought my 93SV on black Friday and got the older GT54 transducer to save more money. It's plenty good for my needs. I wouldn't use another brand if you gave them to me for free, not worth wasting my time on the water with inferior electronics. Fishing time is precious and short, don't compromise if you can afford it. Also, livescope is a huge game changer and worth it alone for that upgrade option.

Hello everyone. So I recently acquired the above boat and can finally get off the bank in Gator country in SE South Carolina. The boat came with an old pos (but functional) Edge 45lb 44" trolling motor with foot pedal. The problem is with front stick steering and where I sit in the front there is barely room for this motor (it hits the dock when docking on the right side and is close to my throttle lever, cables also very much in my way) there is no flat floor for the foot pedal so it's super awkward to use sitting down and impossible standing up, and I detest these foot pedal controls and I want wireless remote with FULL ipilot. Other concerns are I live in brackish water (but have no plans to put my boat in this crap but who knows) I also hate black electronics that live outside in the sun. I am also not rich and trolling motors are a crazy rip off and seem to fail every year or so which has me VERY worried about investing all this money in them anyway, but I need it badly for my preferred fishing style. I am leaning towards a Minn Kota Riptide Powerdrive 24v 70lb 54in shaft. For the power and the fact it's white (which also happens to match my white boat and white truck ) I already have 2 12v 50ah Lifep04 batteries in a custom box for my fishing kayak NK 180 motor that I am not using in gator country. This gives me 50ah 24v, or 100ah 12v (which I don't want) My boat needs a roughly 35-40in shaft trolling motor, but no one seems to make an affordable saltwater ready full ipilot 24v 70lb motor that short. My boat weighs about 700lbs without gear or people, and is just under 16ft. I know I don't "need" a 70lb motor for this small light boat, but I fish mostly freshwater rivers here in SC and especially when I return home to VA in a year roughly. I mostly go out alone, but at times will have 1-3 passengers as the boat is rated for 5 people or 700 lbs. So I want that extra power to spotlock in current and move against current, even when loaded up with weight. What do you think of this motor choice? Can the shaft be cut down without voiding the warranty on this overpriced thing? Should I just suck it up and get the standard black freshwater version? (Which will also have to be cut down and is not available in 70lbs, and barely in 24v) Not sure what to do here or why they don't make smaller shaft trolling motors except a very few. Also from my research motorguide is out of the question, because their GPS spotlock is worthless from everything I have read, and I am often in very tight/narrow rivers and creeks so I need a tight GPS lock. Both brands seem to be exceptionally unreliable regardless as far as not breaking down so... This is roughly what my boat looks like except I have a different bow setup (motor starboard mounted with less flat surface and no rear flat table in front of the outboard. Lastly, I am mostly a do-it-yourself guy so I don't want to pay to have anything done if it can be helped. Please let me know what yall think or would recommend I do in this situation.

This is the kinda kick I needed, thanks! I'm in Beaufort so Bluffton is not really far. Not a lot of freshwater access around here that I have found, it's all brackish rivers. I need to find urban ponds and lakes like you mentioned. I'm not familiar with the property laws and water access rights down here either so I need to figure that out. I am just not keen on having to deal with gators lol. I am spoiled from the north and traipsing around with no fears really, except for other people. Still not taking my kayak out with gators but I do need to find some bank fishing places asap! Thanks!

Yea something like that lol. I read NW of Columbia most of the rivers/creeks have smallies, and no gators. We shall see when I get up there one of these weekends. Yea that sounds about right, everything I have read says the water NW of Columbia is too cold for gators and has fairly untapped smallmouth bass fisheries, I have seen videos of people catching multiple 2-4lbers all day. Wow, talk about water fluctuations the tide down here on the Southern SC coast is insane! 8-10ft lately, and every 6 hours it changes. Back home in VA we have I think 2-6ft tides but I never went to the Beaches in VA much because they suck, their dirty, and the towns are full of crackheads, bums, hoes etc. NC beaches are in the OBX are the gem of the Midatlantic. I would hate crawling through knee deep mud, I can understand why you never go back lol!

Thank you for the advice! Yesterday I was planning on going to the NW side of Columbia to Peak SC to look around the Broad River there. Supposedly NW of Columbia the waters too cold for gators and there are none. But I ran into my cousin and had breakfast and we got to talking and I ran out of time for the 2:45 drive, maybe next weekend. Yea gators, and kayaks........ as a reptile lover and former owner, I just can't put myself in that kind of danger. I know plenty of people do it in the south, but not this guy lol. I am looking into a Jon boat maybe, so I can fish for largemouth closer to home, around gators, with a bit more safety, but I really want the smallies in the NW rivers lol. I am just going to have to drive to fish each weekend I guess.

Thank you for the feedback Tn. I'm sure we have a lot of that right here, I have brackish rivers literally 20 yards from my home, and for miles all around me in every direction. I am really not interested in saltwater fishing, I have no gear for that, no desire to buy new gear and know very little about saltwater fishing or species. I just want to fish for bass, especially smallmouth, and prefer to walk and wade without fear of a gator eating me lol.

So I made a drastic move and went from NoVA to SC low country due to getting divorced and some financial issues I'm working out. Now I'm surrounded by brackish water locally and gators to the NW for 2hours. I am looking for bass fishing advice, and friends to fish with would be even better. I have my OT 120 PDL kayak with NK 180 motor but not about to use that in gator infested waters. Debating on buying a used Jon boat but not really in the budget right now. I am going stir crazy here and need someplace to bank fish with lures (I hate sitting in one spot using live bait, that's boring) or a river or creek to wade without gators. I miss my VA smallmouth bass fishing weekends Anyone wanna make a new friend? Maybe take me out on your boat /wink I got a truck, gas money, food money, bug spray, whatever is needed ?

It's not laying it flat so much as it is tipping it on its stern (rudder) to load and unload. Yea I get what your saying. I don't think my OT 120 PDL hull shape or even a Native stern hull shape will really allow my cart to mount there without falling off, but I'm not for sure. I recently upgraded to the overpriced Wilderness systems cart from a pos $50 amazon cart that I added 3" pvc guides to. The wheels were coming off the hubs under full load of gear, cheap crap because of that issue only. Yea my truck as just under 2" of rear lift give or take. Not much but it doesn't help lol.

Hmm I may have to try this when I visit one in person. I feel like from pics I have seen, some of these bottom rudder kayaks the rudder actually sticks out farther than the stern, so I worry this is still putting stress on the rudder sliding it in and out? I also tie the kayak in a way that pulls it into the bed under the strap stress, and I strap the tail down to the bed extender. This may also be due to the design of my OT Sportsman 120 PDL as I run a strap through the handles to the tie downs at the tail gate latch area, and with my 5.5ft bed this puts my kayak handles just outside the tailgate latch area, so my straps are pulling the boat into the bed when tight if that all makes sense? I guess for me this is all going to come down to getting my hands on one in person and testing it if they will let me. More hassle to worry about and this kayak is already a pita. If I was dumber I might go rent a storage unit so I can just trailer this dam thing but screw wasting all that money lol. Man, I HAVE GOT to move to a new place better suited to my skills/hobbies/needs, what's the lottery up to now? Yes, we all use carts my friend. My concern is moving from a stern mounted, folding into the top rudder, to a bottom stern rudder mounted system, then the issue of the kayak resting on this flimsy rudder when loading/unloading into my truck bed. My truck being lifted 3f/2r doesn't help either, glad I didn't get the 6in lift I really wanted before I thought about getting a fishing kayak LOL! Thanks for all the idea's, everyone! I really need to find someone nearby on facebook with one of these that will meet up and let me test, or later in the year once the 2023 models arrive I will have to drive 3 hours each way to the nearest dealer. I am currently leaning towards the Native Slayer max propel 12.5 I go back and forth between that, and the Native Titan max propel 12, and the Bonafide P127.... Wish someone made one good kayak with all the right features! The perfect fishing kayak as designed by me: Native Titan 12 hull, mainly stern and bow design elements, narrowed to 36-37-38in wide so I can actually fit my crate and battery toolbox in the huge rear well with my seat all the way back (for us bigger taller guys) Optional OT PDL in a flat deck hole, includes a block off plate like Navarre Kayak makes whether you get the PDL or not. Hobbie retractable skeg and rudder, or some better bottom design rudder that allows for truck bed hauling where the kayak has to rest all its weight on the stern during loading and unloading but still allows for stern centerline mounted motors like NK180/300. Optional pedal steering for motor steering if preferred. Slayer horizontal rod storage and under seat drawer. Aftermarket Slayer upgraded steering design. Slayer replaceable accessory side plates. Rear hull access cover, front bow Titan huge flat bottom full length removeable tub insert with incredible hull access. Of course, reinforced bow and stern factory threaded inserts (in the standard design/size) for front spotlock / rear Newport Vessels motor mounts. Full length tracks front and rear to within 4 inches of bow tip and stern tip. Double row in some spots. OT side paddle holders on BOTH sides so I can choose my preference! None of this useless take the paddle apart store in rear tank well where you can't get it in any reasonable amount of time bs. Nucanoe 360 swivel seat design on a height adjustable elevated base of some kind that slides forward and backwards and locks in place front and rear with easy rotation lock mechanism so it doesn't just free rotate all the time either. Not sure who has the best actual seat, OT or Native or Hobbie, but most are decent regardless. Faster bottom hull design while still being just as stable as these other designs. Replaceable rear drag plates as needed, replaceable front keel guard, shallower front keel as Natives front keel is way too deep and wack looking. All for $1999 with PDL, $1499 without PDL. Sell out faster than you can make them, put all other fishing kayaks and various models out of business. Catch fish anywhere, rule the world, game over.

Thanks for the feedback! 1) When loading I do this and drop the cart once I lift the stern and slide it in the bed as far as the cart allows. My cart being just stern of midway would be a pita to mount to the stern, and the rudder would be in the way of the cart right? I don't see way to get the cart on the end with a bottom rudder? When unloading, the angle is too steep the cart would have to go on the very ass end and it does not really "fit" the hull shape there, not to mention there is a rudder system in the way of doing this on the end. I will try to investigate when I get a chance to view one of these kayaks in person hopefully later in the year. 2) I also had this thought. Seems like a pita (Like everything about a fishing kayak that's not on a trailer stored in a garage) and I still think the rudder is going to take stress this way at some point no matter what if your doing this by yourself. Thats the main issue here, loading and unloading yourself puts the kayak in these situations that are not good. Wish I had a house with a yard and a garage, so I could just have a boat or boats lol. Thanks for the thoughts. I feel like stern first into the bed = potential for rudder damage, so I don't think this is a good idea, but maybe. Need to investigate in person as you said. Yea I can understand what you might have gone through. Idk how you guys car top these giant fishing kayaks. I never even considered it before I had my truck, way too much effort/risk imho. Glad you found something that helps make it happen for you!

So I am debating on moving away from my Old Town Sportsman 120 PDL for a host of reasons I won't go into atm. To you folks with a Bonafide or Native (or other brands) with a bottom mounted rudder, how do you get your kayak out of your truck bed without it breaking the rudder? With my OT the rudder flips up into the top of the kayak (one of the reasons I need to get rid of this boat) So when I pull it out of my truck bed the rear keel (which has a replaceable skidplate) rests on the ground while I grab the front and rotate it off my bed extender onto the ground. Thats 100+lbs of weight on the keel, np for my OT. I am afraid this same procedure with a bottom rudder kayak will place the kayak on the rudder when I set it down to grab the front end and pull it off the bed extender. Is this an issue for you guys? Also, when loading my OT, I drag it forward and lift the nose onto the bed extender, so it drags and scraps the replaceable skidplate, then I go grab the stern lift and shove it into the bed. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Good advice. I am already frustrated by my Old Town 120 PDL. I should have bought something else, but there was nothing else available at the time that fit my needs or budget. I am now looking to sell mine and switch to something like the new Bonafide P127 PDL kayak, or Maybe a Native but leaning towards the Bonafide for now. I just wish these brands had higher weight capacities because they are all way to low and I'm too heavy at 250lbs lol. Update. I figured out how to make it work but I went ahead moved on from this idea using the Autopilot motor from the Old Town Autopilot kayak in my 120 PDL. I sold the motor unit to someone else. Now I am focused on rear motor power for the rivers I mostly fish. Using it to get there and back with less effort, same with lakes and reservoirs. The PDL is for the actual "fishing" times. I just bought and tested the Newport Vessels NK 180 yesterday on my OT 120 PDL. It was so nice!

Yea prices are even more insane now. Here is OT regular price, even more than I paid in fall of 2021! Sportsman PDL 120 - Ember Camo | Old Town (johnsonoutdoors.com) The Autopilot 120 is $3999.99 and the 136 is $4499.99 ! They are smoking crack. I will say their PDL drive is the best unit on the market, no contest, this thing is rock solid, durable, and reliable.

Yea that would make your life easier for sure. However, should I find another unicorn (The hull minus motor) I would be all over that (depending on price of course) So I could then drop my motor in there and be done lol. You see, it's all about the price for me. If the Autopilot kayak wasn't insanely overpriced, I probably would have bought that instead of the PDL to begin with, even though I fish a lot of shallow water areas, they are not that different weight/size wise. I could also get a cheap light easy paddling kayak for really skinny water trips. Sorry buddy, besides, I think finding a hull only would be more impossible than me finding this Autopilot unit lol. But who knows, strange things have happened lol! Thank you for this link. I have watched it many times in the past and was considering that route for a normal trolling motor install. However, the Autopilot unit has a steering motor and much different configuration, so this build will not help me with what I am trying to do now really, unless I somehow take this unit completely apart and figure a way to reconfigure it...we will see...... As far as being stolen, yea that's always a possibility, but the guy I got it from seemed pretty legit, he communicated well, didn't act shady or hide anything, was punctual, came in a distinct vehicle (Which I got his plates) had a public facebook marketplace ad etc. If it wasn't for him offering to drive part way to shorten my drive time (I live 2.5hrs away from him) I would have been at his house to pick it up. Even if it is stolen, he doesn't seem to be aware of it and assured me the guy he got it from is someone well known in the area as a fisherman. Nick at Navarre told me OT keeps terrible records and likely wouldn't even know who owned the unit, based on his experiences with them on various things. For what I paid I will not lose sleep over it, if it ever comes up that it is stolen, I'll gladly return it to it's rightful owner personally, as I hate thieves and know what it's like to be violated by them.

Thanks! It's going to be tough to make it work after all. I am waiting to hear back from Nick Navarre to see what he thinks can be done. I may end up selling it and buying a normal ipilot unit to bow mount or selling it and my kayak and buying an ipilot kayak or maybe a Nucanoe Unlimited, idk yet lol. The guy I got it from says he wants to stick with his boat, and the guy he got it from, he doesn't know why he sold it......but claims it's his "buddy" so idk..... Whatever. I was all excited but now that I have it in hand I can see its going to be very difficult to adapt it to my 120 PDL. We will see if Nick comes up with anything, or if I or anyone else I ask about it does. From Googling everywhere, nobody has done this mod yet, or if they have they didn't write about it or make a YouTube video..... Maybe because it's not possible.

Alrighty, I got the unit home and double tested it after testing in person (all using the ipilot app until I can buy a remote) Works perfectly! (I tested all features the app has, Heading hold, spot lock, motor speeds, steering left and right) Some of yall are gonna hate this....... I paid $200 for it ? No remote. No battery. No mounting brackets. Just the complete self-contained motor unit, fully functional I played around with the pivot mechanism. This is more complex than I realized. It has to be pivoted all the way down for the ball on the shaft to line up in the plastic guide hole that holds the ball tabs into place against the lower steering motor turning tabs which is what does the steering. This isn't too much of an issue, I have it down in position and tied the plastic handle to the rubber handle on the base with wire to hold it deployed for now. However, I noticed the long plastic base is flat, but the front metal bracket, when deployed, rotates forward and hangs down below the flat plane of the base. I'll get pics for yall later to illustrate.... OK so I can't add pics because they have to be 1.46mb or less. What the hell man! My pics are around 9mb each, who takes pics that small and low resolution? My phone won't even take pics lower than 4mb resolution in settings. This website needs to be updated big time guys, this is pathetic! This is going to require some significant ingenuity, but anything is possible with some thinking and tools ? I may have to see about removing the gas shock in the pivot bracket so there is no resistance to deploy it and stow it just to make it easier to do those actions. The gas shock is only there to make the unit spring up to assist in stowing it, it does nothing when its deployed. Much to consider, and I will need to reach out to Navarre and maybe some people more local to my area to see what can be done, (and for what price as the name of the game here is savings) More to come as the days go by!

Yep I agree with most of what you said. As to the PDL hole issue, we will see. I REALLY hope to make it work in the PDL hole, I'd hate to have to bow or stern mount it but if that's what it takes to get ipilot at the price I am paying it's still VERY worth it. I have only seen 1 Autopilot in person (When I bought my PDL) but since it was way out of my price range, and I was focused more on skinny water I didn't look at it intently and it was a year ago. Based on pics I have looked at, the autopilot hole is long and skinny, but not really long. My PDL hole is longish and wider so I am hoping it will work out, somehow. As far as the mounting and pivot, yes that's likely to be my biggest challenge, and if whatever mechanism I devise is able to pivot into the hole afterwards or not. The PDL mounts to a bar that is clamped down fairly well. I am imaging getting another similar bar and then rigging some other parts to make it pivot and work together but it's all about the angles. I also have concerns of the prop clearing the underside of my hull since these boats are shaped differently underneath and my PDL hangs really low compared to what I have seen on the Autopilot units. I may have to swap in a slightly longer motor shaft, but we will see. I am planning to use the block off plate I already have from Navarre as a base, or more specifically making myself another one (Navarre is awesome but some of his stuff (like this plate) is insanely overpriced) I have mad modding skills, but very limited workspace, (Packed full townhouse) and as a result limited wood/cutting type tools. Most of my tools are tiny sized for RC airplanes I fly, or auto mechanics tools from my prior life in automotive. Once I get the unit tomorrow, I will begin to get a much better picture of if/how I can mount it, but it's gonna work, one way or another lol! For what I am saving in money it's very worthwhile to try and figure it out.

***UPDATE*** I FOUND a unicorn! Someone selling a brand-new Autopilot unit from an OT Autopilot kayak! (Minus remote) Very cheap too! I am picking it up Sunday! Then I will begin trying to figure out how to engineer it into the PDL hole on my OT Sportsman 120 PDL, if it is even possible.... Depends on if the shaft clears the bottom of my kayak, or if I need a longer motor shaft, then if it will be able to pivot out once I make a mechanism to allow it to pivot like the PDL drive does. Worse case I will lengthen the shaft and figure a way to bow or stern mount it I guess. Either way for the price I will try very hard to figure a way to make it work, it's going to cost me LESS than half what an ipilot GPS bow mount would cost, even used! So, it looks like I will have ipilot on my 120 PDL for dirt cheap! (eventually) Super excited! Idk how/why this guy is selling his, but he said he got it from a buddy cheap but won't elaborate. I don't think it is stolen or anything, I'm thinking some kind of warranty replacement situation where he ended up with a spare. I have seen videos of it working after I walked the current owner through how to temp wire a battery to it and use the app on his phone to pair and test it. (Does not have a remote atm) I will try my best to document the journey because as far as I have researched, nobody has done this mod yet, mainly because nobody ever parts with the Autopilot unit from their OT Autopilot kayak lol. I start a new job Monday so progress will be slow, but I have all winter to figure it out (and save up for an $800 lifepo4 100ah battery lol).

Sorry for the late reply man. If you need to cover water more than a few miles quickly, gas is the logical way to go. If you want to be able to do skinny water, or not have a trailer, you need a kayak. That being said, a quality trolling motor and 100ah lifepo4 battery can take you far (well over 5 miles) if you keep the speed low. They are also SUPER light, but they are not cheap..... If you go with a bow mount, you could go with a 24v system which is more efficient on a 100ah 24v lifepo4 battery so it will go even further. Or you can stay with a 12v motor, and add a second 100ah lifepo4 battery (more cost) and go even further. 2 of these batteries STILL weighs a lot less than one 100ah AGM or traditional marine battery. The Nucanoe I mentioned really does it all, have you looked into them? They have a pedal system. They have a gas engine ready rear transom. They have a bow mount ready bow. 360 swivel seat, can evewn put 2 people and 2 seats in it. Huge weight capacity. You can have a bow mount, rear gas, and still probably carry the pdl drive if you need it, but it requires swapping out the gas motor on the stern, so doing it in open water would be a problem, you need to be able to stand on the ground and do it most likely. I would consider those ideas, then make your choice. I love having a kayak, but wish it was powered by a motor instead of pedals (soon) and was faster (not possible with my OT 120 PDL). I plan to move to a Nucanoe for my next kayak for sure, unless someone gives away a hobie PA12/14 lol.

I know I am late to the party here but the answer is simple. You either need an actual boat with a gas motor. Or.... You need a Nucanoe Unlimited with a bow mounted spot lock trolling motor and rear transom mounted gas engine. This kayak is designed for these items and has the best kayak seat on the market, 360 swivel ftw! Also it has the highest weight capacity and is super wide and stable. Goodluck on your decision.