FishTax

Bobcats scare me. You can keep your lions. I know they probably won't bother me, but I don't like the thought of them.

Praying for you both now.

Mid-March in NC the spawn will be in full swing as it is starting now. You could save a few hours off your trip and hit central NC, then have the option of several lakes in the area. All of them have big fish. Mid march I think you could well exceed 6+. I think for @Pat Brown in mid march that's an average catch. For me, it's an awesome catch All of our lakes pretty much are good, but if you want a big I'd avoid the spotted bass fisheries like Norman, Hyco, etc. as you can catch numbers but they are small. They do have some big fish in them, but imo they are harder to locate because the ratio is lower. Look at Jordan, Falls, Michie, Butner, Mackintosh, High Rock, Tuckertown, Badin, any of the city lakes like oak hollow, Brandt, Higgins, Graham-Mebane, etc. Many many choices, and I'd bet all of those have a double digit in there somewhere. I wouldn't bet on you catching one, but the possibility is worth pursuing! I'm happy to provide further thoughts if interested but don't want to hijack the thread acting like a travel agent for NC 😎

I watch it when moving from place to place, and sometimes when I first launch I'll go 10 minutes looking for bait on the graph before I start fishing. My problem is I really like fishing, and I stare at a screen all day at work so sometimes I don't even bring electronics with me as others have said I know the lake area I fish pretty well and don't need it. But I do need it to find the bait which I learned from @WRB should be the first thing I do in the marina before I start casting, so I try to follow that advice he's written many times on here.

Definitely buy with the future in mind. If you don't get a peddle or motor powered one, either plan to buy a new one that does have those in a year, or have a plan to retrofit a motor onto what you have. I also highly recommend used. Look it over, top and bottom, any damage will be obvious. It's an easy way to save hundreds of dollars, and they also usually come with upgrades and things which a new one would not. Those extras add up fast. Mounting brackets, paddle, rod holders, cart, cup holder, rudder upgrades, crate, etc. just to name a few

We have several lakes down there that are gov't owned (city water supply), and they have 'electric only' areas marked on the lake. I like that because I can expect calm water in those areas, or if it's a slow boater day I can go onto the 'main lake' with the big guns. The good thing about city water lakes is you can't ski in them so it doesn't get too hectic on that front. Big motors in small lakes seem like a bad idea for a variety of reasons, almost all of them which come to my mind are safety related. I'd go somewhere else personally.

This is me. I keep buying them. In my head I catch fish with them. In reality, I make 3 casts and switch to a jig.

I think I have that same robe. It's awesome but I've never fished in it. These pics are awesome, the robe fishing is a vibe in going to embrace soon! Congrats on the fish!

I'm still trying in NC but we have more bad weather coming this week. Been a yuck winter here. Currently very cold rain, tomorrow back to 60, then teens later this week. Classic NC weather

Is that stable enough to stand up in? I think that'd be great for the kids, but not great for me and Pat to fish from for various reasons. But this is probably way better than the tandem kayak I shouldn't have bought.

Yes I plan to pull the batteries each trip, no issue with that as I have to do that to charge them anyway. I'll set them on the 4 wheeler and drive them up so weight isn't really an issue on the batteries. I currently have AGM but when it dies I'll switch to lithium. I use lithium for my electronics already.

Sounds like Jon boat will be the best option for me. I'll start watching for a decent used one. Thanks for all of the thoughts and ideas, definitely some things I hadn't considered. I've got a TM and batteries from renting boats at Marina so I'm hoping to start really cheap and build slowly from there. I have a tall friend named Pat and I'd like it to be spacious enough for him to join as well. Looking forward to the possibilities!

If I leave trolling motor on what are the chances the wires will get chewed or something else bad will happen?

I can't. If I could, I agree as I'd love to have a multipurpose pontoon. The plastic is definitely a consideration as you mentioned with weather and animals. I've left my kayaks out overnight and something ate every soft plastic I'd left on the boat, along with the paddle tail of one hanging off a hook. Luckily whatever it was didn't eat the hook, or chew on my transducer cables and I definitely learned a lesson on that. I'm not sure that I could launch and then pull back out a large jon boat alone. Considering it'd have TM, battery, and gear on it. My launch spot isn't set up for me to unload the boat on the water, I have to get it on land first as I'm launching between trees, etc. in a forest. I need to go over to the marina where they rent them and see how heavy the biggest one they have is. I definitely want enough space for at least 1 good sized buddy to be able to comfortably join me when desired. The 10' bass raiders have pretty good reviews for that but I think the jon boat wins in the outdoor storage category obviously.

I've been doing some research but thought I'd check with you guys who all know way more than me about this stuff. Here is my situation. I'm currently a kayak angler, very comfortable on that platform. However, I have 2 young sons, 3 and 7, and older parents and friends. I bought a tandem kayak and additional solo kayaks, and none of these work for what I'm trying to accomplish. I'm probably going to sell the tandem kayak. Just wanted to establish that before getting to it I live by the lake. Whatever I buy, I plan to leave in the woods. I can throw some wood blocks down to elevate it off the ground and put a cover on it, but I'm not going to pull it up to the house so it should be able to withstand heat and cold to NC specs, and assuming a tarp or something better is over it. I will launch it alone from the shore, so it has to be comfortably manageable by one person. I need it to be easy enough to use for a 70 year old man, or a 3 year old kid. Meaning, the chair is comfortable and they can stand up and stretch their legs occasionally, maybe holding on to a seat or something. I plan to put a trolling motor on it, and fish with it. A lot. I'm in an electric only lake so an outboard isn't under consideration. 2 trolling motors would be considered if justifiable. Do I get a small jon boat, a bass raider, or something else?