flyfisher

well the two areas you are listing as places to fish are pretty different and will need different boats. Also with your budget you are going to have a tough time finding a boat, paddle and PFD. You also have to consider how you will transport the boat to and from the water. do you need a rack system or do you truck that you can throw it in the bed? That being said you need to make a list of things you want and then look at boats that meet that criteria. Based on what your post states and my personal experience, here is what i came up with: Comfortable seat (for obvious reasons) Sit on top for self draining especially in the bay 12-14' range-gives the most versatility for speed and stability basic rod storage capabilities (you can always add this later on in many different forms) Manageable weight for loading and unloading To me those are the basics but then you start thinking about stability and the ability to stand, electronics if you decide to mount them, internal storage if you need it, warranty etc.... The one nice thing is that there are a ton of great kayaks out there now that are fishing machines but finding one in your price range is gonna be difficult. I would also recommend finding a local kayak shop that has a demo days and go out there because you will be able to try out a ton of boats and they usually have great deals as well on demos or last year's models or boats from their rental fleet etc... good luck and post up with any more questions you may have as there are quite a few kayak anglers on here that can help out and provide different perspectives. Below is my current kayak

Any salesman who bashes another product to make his look better is not showing you anything other than lack of knowledge. I personally have no experience with the ranger boats but do with the tracker and have had zero complaints. I can imagine that many of the features on the ranger that people like will trickle down to the tracker lineup as the years go on as well.

I have used them as trailer on chatter baits and swim jigs and they did well. I also use the thumping dinger or whatever it is called and both work well as trailers.

I have only used my mirrors so far since i can't see my trailer through my back window. I did add some visibility bars and it helps but it isn't great. My dad told me to remember that if you can't see it in your mirrors then it is behind you and to keep my hand at the bottom of the steering wheel and turn my hand the direction i want the trailer to go, seems to work for me.

i have caught a lot of fish on a jitterbug at night and during dusk. if i am out and know i am gonna be out that late, the jitterbug gets put on right as the sun begins to set. At least 2 or 3 of my virginia citation sized fish have been caught that way. it really is a great bait.

i bought a jet ski trailer to haul my kayak around last summer and while i am no expert on backing up a trailer, backing up a trailer with a total length of about 12' is no easy task lol I have gotten pretty decent at it though. this video is pretty good though lol

yup that is a good deal for sure. i would have bought it too. Now the question is, did yo still get the trick worm you went in there for originally?

I fish similar water types and went with a kayak. Pretty much any kayak can be mounted with a motor. Stability on many boats is pretty good. I know on my boat i have zero issues standing to fish but the raised seat positions don't make it as much of a necessity as back in the day when you were pretty much on the water.

the only thing i can think of is that the egg shape may grab vegetation on the way through since it isn't really streamlined and you will have a narrowing area close to the hook. You won't really know unless you try though and it isn't like it is going to cost you anything to give it a whirl

I have worn pretty much every major manufacturer out there and i settled on Costas in the 580G, green mirror lens. It works the best for me. As far as plastic lenses go, Smith are really nice and limit distortion in the peripheral vision. Oakley are overpriced overrated pieces of junk now. they used to be decent but have been surpassed by even lower pried lenses like native. bottom line is try on the glasses as that is probably as important as the lenses because much like a life jacket, it does you no good if you don't wear them.

how may jet boats do you see on the river? I know i still see props way outnumber them. I would also argue that a jet boat on plane gives much less of a wake than a prop boat so the bank erosion piece i don't believe to be accurate. More people in any type of craft or wading will reduce the number of fish being caught but that doesn't always mean that there are less fish

I drove by a couple of ponds here in the richmond area and they all still had ice on them so you amy want to do a drive by and check out the areas to make sure they aren't covered in thin ice. Other than that, i can't add anything additional to what Sam said....cold water fishing is fun and rewarding. I have a tough time fishing on those warm days with cold water temps because my metabolism is high with the warm weather but the fish may not have the same feeling so it is harder for me to fish as slow as i need to. Still fun to get out though ..

definitely a bad pack or the rigging is wrong even though it seems like yo have the right terminal tackle. I prefer screw locks myself but i did the EWG for a while too and they worked fine. They are more of a subtle buzz than other fronts like the ribbits which give you more action with their paddle tail style feet.

I remember it because I was in trouble in school so i was eating my lunch in the office and they had it on TV so i got to watch it firsthand. I'll always remember the assistant principal dropping the F bomb....and this was a private christian school lol

the only reason i think it is a buffalo is because of the barbels on the mouth that you can barely see in the picture and the pictures i saw from gizzard shad have a different dorsal fin.

the more i look at it, i think it is a buffalo carp or whatever they are called

No idea but i have a few weeks to decide...

what are those fish? they look almost like shad but it's hard to tell from the pic and they don't hang around in the rivers except during their migratory run. and since you snagged them i am guessing you found a school in their wintering hole

Yeah i never tried the outrigger thing and my first boat, Heritage redfish, i could stand in to stretch my legs but never really could fish from the standing position. Every boat since then i have been able to stand in with ease. My ATAK is definitely the most stable kayak i have owned and the easiest to stand in for sure. I find myself standing to fish a lot more often now than in the past too but that may also be because i have become a fan of fishing jigs and i think it helps to be standing to fish them.

I'll pass on the outriggers myself but i know people who love them.

Not all are stable enough to stand in though.

I look forward to every year. This year will bring all kinds of changes as i will finish up my first full year of teaching and i will also have a second kid brought into the mix in july. After all that, i am looking forward to spending time with the family this summer. So @Nitrofreak, why no Nitro this season?

How do you know they are there? are there buoys or something?

For rivers i think a SOT is a no brainer really. Both for the self draining and the ability to jump out and fish an area much more easily.

I have always wanted to fish that place. I have heard that there are places you can get to in a kayak that those in regular boats can't.