Like many who have grey beards and have been fishing all of their adult life I can say been there, done that' to most bass fishing setups. I went from canoes, to car topper jons, to jons on trailers, to semi-v's on trailers, to flat bottom alum bass boats, to higher end Lunds and ultimately settled on Rangers and kayaks

All work of course. It's just a matter of comfort and convenience. If all you need is a hull and a oar, or an electric, any car topper will do lugging a battery around is not all that tough. But once you start adding a gas motor, tank, seats, sonar, maybe a live-well cooler, lights, plus all your fishing crap it eventually becomes a major chore especially if you do this 2-3 times a week.

Going to a trailered boat even a jon makes life MUCH easier since you don't have to assemble/de-assemble and load/unload the rig at the beginning and end of the trip.

Once you are hooked on trailered boats, especially if you are fishing a lot, maybe doing a few local tournaments, eventually you'll want a floating tackle box that gets you where you want to go quickly and is comfortable to fish from when you get there.

And, BTW, this does not need to cost a fortune. Most bass fisherman pine over new high-end bass boats. Been there, done that too. 10 years ago I bought a new Ranger - cost a fortune, but it's a beautiful boat and still looks like new. However, I hope to think I'm getting smarter as I'm getting older. I just bought a 20 year old Ranger dirt cheap as a project boat and I'm trying to set it up as cost effectively as possible (not because I have to, just because I want to). I plan to sell my nicer looking' Ranger this spring and replace it with this bargain boat'. While it may not catch as many eyes in the parking lot, I suspect it'll catch just as many fish on the water.

Regardless - I look back on all my boats big and small and have fond memories of all. The only bass I ever mounted was caught from a jon boat that traveled in the back of a pickup. I've caught lots of bigger fish over the years, but that was a special one, from a little tin boat with a good friend.

Thanks DonMac,  you're right and I suspect I will eventually follow the same boat "evolution" as you.  However I'm at the canoe point right now and it is basically perfect for my needs and small waters I fish.

However I'd like to get my dad out some times, he is 67 years old and although in good shape, has trouble sitting in a canoe for very long.

I definitly look to have a bigger boat someday, but I need to wait for more $$$.  I've purchased a couple very used trailered 12' boat/motors over the years in $1500 range, and they all are maintenance and storage nightmares and made fishing more painful (20 pulls on a motor ruins by day).  I need to wait until I can buy a newer (not new) quality boat with a newer motor that will be reliable.  I've seen some nice jon's with newer motors in the $5000 range...but I'm just not there financially and don't have patience to store and maintain that boat the way it would deserve to be.

From a flexibility and manouvering ability the canoe is tops....I'd never leave the canoe if I could take a partner and both of us could stand comfortably to fish.  So I keep dreaming about something with the simplicity of a canoe but with more comfort and stability.