craigdritchie

About 30 years ago I’m in The Pas, Manitoba, overnighting on the way to a fly-in. We’re staying in this disgusting roach hotel with an attached bar. It’s 2:00 in the afternoon, the place is just packed, and 90% of the people there are already completely hammered. We just gave our drink order when two skanky looking girls at the next table start fighting. And when I say fighting, I don’t mean raised voices and a shove or two, I mean all of a sudden it’s Rocky and Apollo Creed in the 15th round and they’re going for the KO. They’re rolling around on the floor throwing haymakers and landing about half of them, just beating the living daylights out of each other. Bartender and a couple of other guys grab them by the hair and literally drag them across the floor and out the door, as they continue kicking, screaming and pummelling each other the whole time. As he returns, bartender just smiles at us and goes "Welcome to The Pas." Fast forward 10 minutes and the girls are back at the table, they have a couple of beers and they’re sharing a plate of fries and gravy. Turns out they’re the entertainment. Once they finish eating, one girl gets up on the bar with a crappy old boom box, hits play, and starts peeling while the other one goes from table to table to collect tips. After the first girl’s done her three songs, they switch it up and girl no. 2 starts peeling while the first one collects the dollar bills. I coughed up a tip both times, mainly so they would go away. I think these girls had maybe a dozen teeth between them, and you could already see they were going to have shiners and some good bruises the next morning. I remember it being really hot and clammy inside that bar, because even though it was the middle of summer they had this huge pot of something simmering away on a wood stove in the corner. At some point one of the staff went over and lifted this big French fry basket out of the pot, and there stewing away were a couple of muskrats. I didn’t eat a single thing till we got to the lodge the next afternoon.

Daiwa BG is hard to beat for a good quality saltwater reel that won't break the bank. The 5000 series is a good size with loads of line capacity, yet still not too big or heavy. They're simple, solid reels with very good drags and no issues. You can find them for around $200 - $235 Canadian ... with reasonable care they will last for many, many years.

Bill - yes, you do 😀

Hire a guide and go catch baby tarpon. If you hunt around on Google you'll find there are loads of guides in Miami, all of them supply the gear, some will even pick you up at your hotel and drop you off at the end of the day. It's not cheap, but you've got almost a year to squirrel away the Pesos ... put a few bucks aside every week and it's easy to save up enough. A day of baby tarpon fishing is by far the best bang for the buck in south Florida. "Baby" tarpon generally run from 10 to 30 pounds, you get them in numbers close by the marinas (so no long, long rides out to the spots), and they fight like crazy. Imagine catching a whole bunch of adult chinooks by casting swim baits on a bass rod, big difference being the tarpon don't just run, they also jump like they've got a butt full of TNT. Forget about going for big tarpon, it's too much work for a 13 year-old. Tell the guide you're more interested in numbers and they'll fix you right up. You'll also probably catch some bonus redfish and snook too, so it's a great experience that you and your lad will remember for the rest of your lives.

I'm a HUGE fan of Geigertec mounts. They're hand-made in Aurora, Ontario to an absolutely insane quality standard by people who actually fish. The guy who runs it (Tim Fernandes) is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Website is https://www.geigertecmarine.com I like to support Canadian companies whenever I can, but flag waving aside, these really are the highest quality mounts I've ever seen - bar none. Yes, they're expensive and yes, pricing on the website is in USD ... which reflects the fact that's where 95% of their customers are located. BUT ... these brackets will last a lifetime and you'll never worry about having an expensive display bounce around in rough water, or detach altogether (as I had happen a few years back with another bracket). They really are as good as it gets.

Like a boss.

It costs outfitters a lot of money to exhibit at shows. Apart from paying for their travel to the show, and paying for their display space, they also have to pay for a week or so of living in a nearby hotel, and eating virtually every single meal at nearby restaurants. All of this costs money, and since these are often family-owned businesses to begin with, it's hard for them to then start chopping prices on their only way of earning that money back and putting some cash in their jeans.

But isn't that typical Canadiana? We all buy gas by the litre for boats we measure in feet, and describe distance by how long it takes to get there. It's almost a requirement for citizenship.

Mercury didn't release pricing info for its new motors at CES, but it's a pretty good bet they will have that later this month when the Toronto Boat Show opens. I would expect it to be in the same range as its competitors (i.e. $3k to $4k) but that's only a guess on my part. As far as electric aircraft go, some people may have missed the announcement last fall that Air Canada is buying 30 electric planes from Heart Aerospace. These will be used on short-haul flights ... Toronto to the Soo, for example. They're supposed to enter service within 5 years, so that's pretty exciting. Widespread electrification is becoming reality, it's no longer just science fiction that might happen one day, maybe, perhaps, somewhere far off in the future. It's happening right now. This year's CES was a real eye opener, it is amazing how much things have changed since before the pandemic. The number of electric cars, bikes, trucks and boats on display there was unreal.

I was at CES last week and saw the new Mercury motors in person (all 3 models) and I have to say, they're really slick. The 7.5e is available now, with a 20e and 35e model both out by the end of this month. Two more are apparently coming for the end of this year, but Mercury wouldn't discuss further details. The battery, at least on the 7.5e model, loads into the top of the motor and is removable, so you can swap it out for a second battery if you run low. This is a sensible arrangement and given its size, there should be plenty of capacity. I was skeptical of my electric lawn mower when I got it, but it goes a long, long time with a battery not much bigger than what I have on my drill. These are first steps, but it's pretty clear this is the future. I can tell you one thing - when you hit the throttle with an electric outboard it doesn't take a second or two to rev up to speed like a gas engine does. You get full throttle to the prop instantly, so the hole shots are just unbelievable. The motors are also silent, no fumes, no messing around with fuel, loads of advantages. I'm pretty encouraged by what I see.

Well here's another example that doesn't identify any one user. I don't visit this site much these days either (work keeps me busy) but Ive been surprised at the US political ads as well. It really isn't appropriate, regardless of anyone's political views. Perhaps ownership could reach out to Google or wherever places the ads and have a word?

One man's junk is another man's gold, I guess, since an F7 black Flatfish is by far the most effective steelhead bait I've ever used in over 40 years of chasing them. They're also great for salmon, lakers, browns, pike and smallmouth. If I was ever stuck someplace with only 3 lures, a Flatfish would definitely be one of them (along with a no. 2 silver Mepps Aglia, and a 1/4 ounce black twister tail jig).

Johnson Outdoors (parent company to Minn Kota) is in Burlington ... (905) 634-0023. Try giving them a call, I have no idea if they would have parts on hand but if not, they can at least point you in the right direction. Good luck.

Ha! I don't know about the wannabe actuary part ..... but I guess almost 40 years as a writer is tough to hide.

There are three main issues driving up the cost of new boats. That, in turn, is driving up the cost of used ones. First, supply chain issues remain a huge problem for pretty well every boat builder on the planet. Semiconductors, aluminum, plywood, stainless steel, resin, gelcoat, foam for seat cushions, and a whole bunch of other parts and pieces remain in tight supply. As a result, the cost of components and raw materials has skyrocketed. Shipping costs have also increased massively. The cost to ship a container of parts here from China is now 10x what it cost in 2019. Part of that is higher fuel costs, part of it is higher demand, and a big part of it is extra safety protocols to satisfy covid measures in ports, which are all government controlled. Finally, demand for boats since 2020 has gone through the roof. Dealers have very little inventory, pretty well all boat builders sold out their entire 2022 production runs long ago, and most of them are now well into 2023 meaning if you buy your boat today, it will be some time next summer before you see it. No one wants to wait, so that is driving up the cost of used boats. I don't see prices coming down. The reality is that we're going to see a lot of new, wealthy buyers coming into the market over the next several years as aging baby boomers die off and leave their assets to their kids. In the US, they're expecting millennials to inherit more than US$68 trillion from their baby boomer parents over the next 20 years. Canada's economy is around 1/10th of the US, so reasonable to think that here we're talking about $6.8 trillion changing hands over the same period. Even if only a fraction of these suddenly wealthy millennials become boat buyers, it's still going to be a huge number, and that will hold prices high.