Functional

been using the culprit fat worms for a few months now. They work well when an Ol Monster is just a bit too much but a smaller length is too skinny. I like them quite a bit. I know people on this form have heard of it but if I ever mention it to anyone "in the wild" they look at me like i spoke another language. Jitterbug has been responsible for some of my largest bass.

Appreciate all the perspectives. Doesn't seem like it but it does help haha. If I go the yak route I'm going to consider the pa14 and the longer old town and possibly the slayer series. I'm leaning heavier to the peddle drive systems vs the autopilot but I need to figure what I'm doing first. As for loading/unloading my 2000acre lake I fish majority of the time is on my neighborhoods private street and we have our own launch so I'd keep it rigged/loaded all the time even during the tow to the ramp. Going to any of the other lakes I'd plan to rig it in the prep area and launch it loaded. To be honest, it will be easier to launch a kayak on a trailer than my boat, our ramp is kind of shallow and angles away from the dock so I have to keep it hooked to the winch stap, get into the water knee deep, climb the boat and trailer and drive the boat off. Not bad when I'm in shorts in the summer but d**n near miserable in the winter months. A lot of aspects of kayaks I like but as someone mentioned I'm worried I'll miss having the big motor and all the space. I feel like in a few years my wife will want a family boat to tow the kids and this will have to go anyway. Not sure if I should milk the years now or get used to a kayak sooner among all my other reasons.

Main lake I fish 75% of the time is 1800 acres but my launch is right in the middle of just about all my spots so its never that far, farthest spot I have is 2 miles off my launch. Second I rarely go to is Bukchorn Lake which is 2300 acres. Little background -I've owned 2 kayaks (bonifide rs117 and Recon120 non peddle) but no peddle drives so I'm familiar with limitations and how it fishes. I enjoyed kayak fishing except range limitation due to paddling and all the draw backs I mentioned above. Figured peddle or autopilot will take care of all my issues and extend my range just a bit using my legs instead of arms. I'd rather go for a top tier system if I did this knowing what I do now, IF I went this direction. -I wont be fitting a car in either way but I have machinery (lathe and mill) thats still at my parents barn 3 hours away because I cant fit it in my garage. Not having either keeps me from earning some extra cash on the side and I'd really prefer to get both in my garage but its not something I'd be relying on to pay bills or this decision wouldnt be a debate. Having the smaller kayak even on a trailer would give me the space to re-organize and get that stuff in my garage. -Having both isnt really a desire. I had my recon 120 and Tracker at the same time for a year before I sold the recon. If I was missing 3 fingers I can still count on 1 hand how often I took the kayak out. Mainly for not having any control while fishing with rod in hand. Dont want to dump 2.5 to 4K on someone that ill just take up space. -A few times (3-4) a year I get on lake gaston (20,000 acres) but it has multiple public launches if I wanted to try different areas, still would be limiting in a kayak but theres enough variety around the close launches I'm fairly sure I could find fish givin the limited range from them. Most times the inlaws come out on their pontoon and I just fish in the areas they are around. If I went kayak I dont see why we couldnt tow it and I use it as a mother ship (FIL rarely pushes his pontoon more than 10mph). - Within 1hr I can drive to Falls lake(12,500 acres), Lake Jordan(14,000 acres) and Shearon Harris (4100 acres) but I've only ever been to one of them once in the 2 years I've lived in the area. Would like to do more but the reality is I'll probably get a trip to any of them once or twice a year -Having the boat with the gas motor does prevent me from fishing some of the lakes when I'm at my parents that are electric or oar only. One of which holds the state record LMB and the other 2-3 have spit out bass that have been close. All of smaller size, likely less than 2000 acres each. We visit them about every other month to once a month so it would be frequent enough to be nice to fish. -99% of the time I'm by myself. My wife/daughter only came out on our home lake twice with me this year. She has a small kayak herself she feels she wants to use more so I think shed enjoy it even if she just tagged along. My father has only come out with me once. Typically if he wants to go out on a boat its the whole family so he drags his big pontoon boat with him to fit everyone...even on my boat I couldnt do that. I realize this is my decision, just trying to sort out my thoughts and see what the feedback is.

It might be the lack of fishing I've been able to do the past 2 months with all the holidays and travel me and my wife do around this time of year but I've been wrestling with a decision to sell a 2013 Tracker 175 and do it right and go all in on a Hobie PA12 or Old Town 120pdl (open to others but these are my front runners). Kayak would be 90% trailered so weight isnt really an issue, would possibly entertain an Old Town 120 AutoPilot but kind of want to keep it simpler to peddle only. I think the aspects I didnt like with kayak fishing would be handled with peddle drive (getting blown off too fast, fish pulling me into my spot and blowing it out, cant maneuver with rod in hand) but I'm struggling with the freedom of being able to zip around a lake to wherever I wanted to go. On the other hand it would force me to really fish a spot/stretch of area instead of spending 15-30 minutes and leaving. Another minor benefit is the space I'd gain in my garage without the boat stuffing it up. Minor inconvenience but its there. Thoughts? Opinions? Any advice from people who have gone either direction? -Boat is fully paid off, new garmin force motor and Garmin 9sv both put on a little over a year ago. -I'd certainly recoup all the money I've put into the boat given todays prices and what I paid for the boat in 13.

I keep about 12 in the boat compartment and will bring out only 6 at most on the deck at a time and typically only end up using 3 most of the day. I pre-rig all 12 depending on what I THINK might work and backup plans if it doesnt. If I'm traveling or bank fishing its either 2 or 3 at most.

I caught a fish that chomped my plastic worm in half and spit the loose end out on my boat. It was my last of that type and color and I not nothing else close to it and everything else wouldnt work. Took some mono and a small drop shot hook and sewed the plastic back together with the mono. Caught 2 more fish before it was to far past repairing. Other than that my only other genius moment was when my brain said "dont go swimming out to your boat in 45 deg water" as I was thigh deep after stripping down to go in after it. (pro tip, make sure you dont have broken safety latches on your boat winch strap)

19 Tundra Crewmax. Originally went to get a mid sized truck like a tacoma, ranger or colorado but my wife actually talked me into a full size for future family planning. I wasnt going to argue, I wanted a tundra and she loved the huge back seat area so here we are. Getting about 17mpg average and maybe 15 when I'm pulling a 17' bass tracker. 70k miles on her and not a lick of problems.

theres a few guides in NC at the lakes around raleigh, cant recommend any though. If you wanted I'm sure theres a marina or 2 on lake gaston that rents boats and if not I know Lake Gaston Outfitters rents kayaks. Not exactly fishing kayaks but they will get you on the water. Also plenty of public launches if you bring your Raider and depending on where you stay you can make the drive to Falls and Jordan lakes.

Once or twice when I lived in NY. Once when I was young enough to "not know any better" I had no license and got off with a warning (got my license right after). Said hed rather see me out fishing than any of the other stuff I could be getting into. Since I moved to NC only time I've seen a game warden is on my home lake and the guy who patrols it is my neighbor. I always have a license but he doesnt "rock the boat" when he sees me out there.

typically this is my time to go through the bilge and motor and really give it a good cleaning. Vacuum/shampoo the carpets and replace anything needing replacement. Nothing freezes here so I really have no off season but around the holidays we travel alot so i dont get to go out often, this fills my time.

after all them bucks i dont even want to post my little doe! Only got into hunting this year and after 3 sits in a tree stand I had a shot at this doe 20 yards away. Double lunged her and she ran towards where our truck was so overall I've had it very easy. I've shot competitive long range rifle (PRS) for about a decade before the PRS was even an organization so felt like a gun was cheating and took a bow. I'm now fairly addicted and having some pretty big internal struggles if I'm hitting fall fishing or hunting now on the weekends now.

Hooksets are free until they arent....then its the unlucky lottery if its going to run you only $2, $20 or a dry set of clothes. We wont talk about fancy swimbaits.

back when i was younger and more dumb me and a buddy found a big natural pond by the top of the tallest mountain in our area...about 1600ft rise in elevation. We used to take our jeeps up there but for some reason we decided to hike up the back side of the mountain which took us about 1.5 hours and went and fished the pond. We were about done circling the pond when we came across a cove...that had a public road leading right to it. We went off the grid to get there, but it wasnt necessary. Not sure if this counts.

dont they have a 3 rod deal sometime during the fall/winter? If you are planning to buy multiple and can wait it might be worth your while.

the few quarries I fish around here get good responses from small spinnerbaits, smaller weightless flukes fished like a jerk bait and a KVD Sexy Dawg. none are particularly deep but id be tempted to try a lipless crankbait run along those ledges if I was in your shoes.

I'll fight a log for a solid 10 seconds just to be sure I havent hooked the new state record.

When I lived in NY I hardly used them because the pike and pickerel would him a SB before any bass could get to it. Once I moved its now got a dedicated rod and one is always tied on and on my deck. Highest producing lure for me by a good bit. I'll throw it into even the heaviest lay downs and pockets at weed edges, work it parallel to weed beds. Fish it like you are trying to lose it...even when it gets snagged a few bow snaps on the line usually gets it free.

The very first Floro i bought was P-Line before I knew any better. Super Stretchy

Have you always lived in NC and just started or did you relocate from another state? For me it took a while to really get in a groove when I moved from middle of NY to here. Decent difference in bass behavior/area...or at least aggressiveness.

Zoom swimming fluke Jr. 4" and I use the whole thing on 3/8oz and heavier. Smaller and I'll start chopping it down. Never had luck not using a paddle tail of some type on my spinners and chatterbaits. Helps me to slow it down with the extra drag and slow roll it.

The slx mgl/xt profile is my favorite to palm hands down.

I have one a few houses down... spent a lot of money for a rig and rods and never wants to go out. Haven't seen it move in almost a year. Now I have another neighbor wanting me to help her and her son. She's married and his dad is aroun.... just feels weird teaching another man's son and taking his wife out. Overall I prefer my line of sight not to have another human in it.

I had an accident with a rod the other day....caused me to accidentally have a new dummy spooling rod. I like your accident better.

Greenville Marine & Sports Center in Greenville NC Since I found this place the only thing I've really ordered online is reels because the shop only carries righties. They have just about everything you could ask for in every color you could ask for. A bit dobyns heavy on rods but still carries a decent selection of Daiwa and St. Croix. They also put on tournaments around the area. Store also has archery and gun stuff in their place...I'm spiritually richer when I leave but financially poorer also. Its a vicious cycle.

I cant remember where I saw it...or if it was just cool advertising but a pair of glasses that when you looked into the water you saw the topography as it would be in the water where you looked. I'm not really into livescope but I'd spring for that tech...providing I don't need to take a second mortgage on my house