Looking for some advice for a possible snowbird.

Evening folks, some quick questions for you NC folks on some places / lakes to stay for the winter. Wife and I are about to be full time teleworking due to the covid and we are from Pennsylvania and thinking for next year we are going to rent a apartment/condo somewhere in the NC area, some place where the lakes do not freeze for the winter and I can fish from November till April. We have been looking in the Jordan Lake area and wow, what a sticker shock we had when the closest places to the lake were right around $1800 a month to rent.

I was thinking maybe this is so expensive because of it being so close to a major metropolitan area and looking to see if any of you folks have some suggestions on a few lakes, good for crappie, that are maybe a little bit further from the metropolitan areas? We are coming from the Harrisburg PA area and for us to get to Jordan it would take around 7-8 hours drive. We wanted to stay around that drive time from home in case for some reason we had to drive back due to work.

Thanks for your time, it is greatly appreciated.

I would look in the area of High Rock Lake. It's not much further than Jordan. #1 or #2 Crappie lake in NC. If you would consider going a bit further south, I'd suggest Rock Hill, SC area and Lake Wylie. It's one of the best Crappie lakes in my opinion.
It's on the NC/ SC border.
Will need license for both states though.
Best of luck and hope yall find a wonderful place her in the south land.
Many lakes within an hour's drive from the York County area as well that are great crappie lakes.

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Look at Kerr reservoir, also called Buggs Island, on the NC/Va border off I-95. It is a huge lake (55,00 acres), half is in NC, and half in Va. Lots of vacation rentals there, could probably get a nice off-season rate.

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Been to Harrisburg a number of times working with some legislators up there. Beautiful, majestic capital building you have compared to what we have down here. My fishing partner Charles lived in Maryland and worked in DC. He kept reading about those slab crappie caught on Jordan and he ended up retiring down here. His house is about 1.5 miles from the lake. As far as apartments/condo's, the choices are pretty slim immediately around the lake. Things are changing, but mostly individual houses in the area.

The crappie fishing is top-notch in the area. Everybody knows about the slab's on Jordan and just down the road is Harris. There have been a number of tournaments with weights over 14 lbs., weighing in 7 fish. About 30 minutes away on the other side of Raleigh is Falls Lake and last Sat. one team weighed in 14.75. To the north about 1.5 hours away is Kerr (Bugg's Island) and to the west about 1.5 hours is High Rock, Badin and Tillery. Having fished Jordan all my life, it is by far my #1 lake.

Another consideration is boat storage. There are a number of options within a ten minute drive from Jordan. Everything from gravel lots to closed in storage units are available. My stepson rents an apartment close to the Raleigh-Durham airport and the cost is about half the number you quoted above. Now it is one bedroom and in one of those large complexes, so it depends what you are after. Right up hwy. 64 from Jordan towards Cary/Apex/Raleigh is a huge new apartment complex being built. Renting for just six months may limit your search, but this part of NC is a great place to be a crappie fisherman.

$1800 a month is not bad. Hope you aren't expecting too much less, because you may be disappointed.

You might consider Lake Gaston.

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Are you looking for an apartment or a house on the lake with a dock?

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Originally Posted by pete

$1800 a month is not bad. Hope you aren't expecting too much less, because you may be disappointed.

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$1800/month ain't bad , it's ridiculous. You could buy a nice damn house for that kind of money.

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Originally Posted by FisherFore

I would look in the area of High Rock Lake. It's not much further than Jordan. #1 or #2 Crappie lake in NC. If you would consider going a bit further south, I'd suggest Rock Hill, SC area and Lake Wylie. It's one of the best Crappie lakes in my opinion.
It's on the NC/ SC border.
Will need license for both states though.
Best of luck and hope yall find a wonderful place her in the south land.
Many lakes within an hour's drive from the York County area as well that are great crappie lakes.

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If you get near High Rock you will be near a chain of lakes within a short drive of each other. High rock, Tuckertown, Badin, Falls Reservoir and Tillery. Also a short drive from those is a small city lake called lake Reese. My opinion I hate the Apex / Raleigh area its to city for me but you may like that. Also with the Pandemic going on there are way to many "Karens" over there and your that much closer to our stupid governor!! Here is a link to a place on Badin lake right around $1500. Vacation Rentals, Homes, Experiences & Places - Airbnb

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You may want to look at some of the smaller towns. I live (Moore county) about an hour from Jordan, Harris, Tillery, and Badin. Another 30 to 45 minutes or so to Falls or High Rock. I fee pretty certain you should be able to find something cheaper than $1800. Look around the north or western fringes of Fort Bragg. May have better luck finding something to rent as these area are accustomed to working with the military families and having more flexibility in their leases and such.

Telecommuting means you probably want really good internet, just be sure to check that before making a decision. Internet services around Jordan are of course stellar due to proximity to Raleigh metro area. You can find better rent in the middle of nowhere but then the internet options get pretty bleak. Gotta find the right balance :)