Welcome from Sanford. My best advice to you as a first time owner of a relatively small jon boat is: Stay off the big open water at Jordan Lake when it's very windy and don't stray to far from the bank when it is not windy... as wind conditions can change very quickly and your getting caught in the big open water when the wind suddenly picks up can be a deadly mistake at this time of year. I had a 15 foot wide bodied jon boat with a 40 hp Nissan outboard and I have been caught on the open water in dangerous winds. IMO: Take your sweet time with this thing... there's safer and better weather for adventure and experimentation. You should concentrate instead on getting used to your boat and what it will and won't do... and always remember that relying on one motor in big open water can and will spell disaster should that motor knock off and you lose control of your boat in the wind and very possibly get swamped by the three and four foot rollers on Jordan. An anchor getting hung up on the bottom in high wind is another very quick way to swamp a small jon boat.
Papadave has given you some good advice... find some smaller and safer water early on. Shearon Harris Lake and some of the nearby rivers are far better and more predictable places to learn and gain knowledge fishing from a smaller boat. Finding consistency at crappie fishing requires lots of experience, knowledge and experimentation... which all require a body to live long enough to find some measure of them.