I’m pretty much moved away from the Gulf where I’ve fished all my life and am now shifting gears to fresh water, which I’ve never done. Our new home is on a 65 acre, 70’ deep, spring and mountain runoff fed lake with around thirty docks in the SE corner of TN a half hour north of Blue Ridge GA bordering the Cherokee NF. The main body of water is around 40 acres and the rest consists of several deep water coves. I see bass, crappie, strippers, bream, trout and catfish swimming from my back porch on a regular basis but very few people fish the lake and they are just goofing off. No combustable motors allowed. I have power to the uncovered dock and will be leaving the boat in the water. I’m want something aluminum with a descent size trolling motor, 600lb three person capacity along with a few more hundred pounds of batteries, motor and gear. Next question, simple live scope or other electronics? Would I be better off with an 18’ pontoon boat because we will be also getting one? Thanks.

Wow, sounds like a great place to live! I think it's impossible to advise you without an idea of how much you are willing to spend. I assume you are getting a pontoon for the family, and the most efficient thing to do is to make it suitable for fishing. You will want a 36 volt TM for it, but you are gonna need that whether you fish from it or not since you can't have an outboard.

I would rather fish from an aluminum boat, but that means keeping up 2 boats and more expense. If you go that route, the brand name of the boat isn't as important as the layout. I'd want one without casting decks since there's no outboard, but that's more a personal preference. You can keep your eyes a lot closer to the screen of your electronics with that setup.

You could get by with just a Live scope, but it would be better to have 2 units so that you can run your mapping from the other one. Even though the lake isn't big, you will want to mark brush tops and such where you catch fish. The second unit could be a smaller screen.

It sounds like a lake where you could really benefit from putting out brush piles. If the lake doesn't have much natural cover, you can concentrate the fish . Have fun!

I'm waiting on my Mega Live 2 to be shipped. Last update was 4/25. The reviews show it beats LiveScope.

Make sure to check out the electric outboards. They are improving them rapidly. I’d get one that allows for external batteries. That way you can buy what you want. Range is limited, but you can use a trolling motor for fishing, and the large one to move from place to place.

My advice. Sure I have electronics front and back. I use mine for water depth mainly. I like to know how deep of water when I’m running 60 mph. Basically I’m like hey this spot looks good and start fishing.

Thanks to all. PCP, look up Campbell Cove Lake in Turtletown TN to get a better idea.

Sounds like a good fit for a "pondtoon" https://boatsandfishing.com/

I’d focus primarily on those strippers that swim by every day…..😁
Sorry. Someone was gonna say it.
I’d want something like a bass tracker with a big trolling motor. You’d have a blast fishing out of it.

Just put Garmin Force 80lb thrust on RT178 Ranger with live scope. With trolling motor on full speed I’m going 4.1 mph. The live scope is amazing technology. Getting ready to start loading the bot.

A 16 or 18' pontoon with a good TM seems like it would be a great fit for fishing or for family outings as long as you don't try to load too many people on it. Not the best thing for windy days though.

Bingo, what 700ltr said.

Get a fully rigged aluminum bass boat minus the outboard . They are easy to find . It will be comfortable and will be better to fish from that a pontoon in a lot of areas