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Reel North

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  1. The fortrex is a bow mount minnkota cable steer electric 😉. I use it while casting.
  2. Sorry about the lack of details. The boats are within 10k of each other all said and done, so as far as budget, it’s not a factor. tow vehicle is a 2018 F150 Diesel generally will fish within 40 mins of home mostly cast for Muskie. Troll a bit in fall, and on certain lakes I travel to. Probably 85% casting fish either with a buddy or 2 or my two rug rats im not sure if things like digital throttle are worth it. on my last boat I had a fortrex trolling motor. I see everyone is using these new minnkota ultrex. Not sure of the value there. I’m co side ring a Harmon trolling motor actually lol. for fishfinders - I’m looking at 10” - which ones - Garmin, humminbird or lowrance.
  3. I’m down to the brass tacks on a new boat for 2021. I’m debating on the 1875 (18’10”) or 2075 (20’10”). I really only fish Muskie, and very rarely anything else. I usually fish alone, or with my two kids when I have them (8 & 10) any opinions? Also any input on must have options? I’m coming from Princecraft and Crestliner boats previously. much thanks
  4. The government has put in place a 5 billion fund for suppliers of GM & Chrysler to ensure they get paid for parts. That is a huge issue in the industry that the small players are forced to use expensive credit facilities to keep open when the big 3 take a year or more to pay for retooling. It all needs to be reworked.
  5. Lets not pile on the workers here. Lets look at it from a business case GM & Chrysler are bloated, and have too much capacity. The benefits, pensions, and holidays are significantly more lucrative than anything other than government The long term pension obligations of both companies are huge, and are significantly underfunded. Gm is currently 4.6 billion underfunded in their pension. The Ontario government offered a "too big to fail" insurance program for the automakers and other large firms in the early 90's (thank Bob Rae), which only GM took advantage of. The Ontario government is on the hook for the pensions of the autoworkers should the company go broke. There is currently only 100 million dollars to cover the pensions, which leaves us on the hook for 4.5 billion. It is difficult to blame the workers for the generous compensation paid to them by the company, or to understand their reluctance to take significant paycuts. However, it IS difficult to understand the CAW attitude (UAW is far more willing to make concessions) that the entitlements are still there when the economy is in recession, and the employer is facing a potential chapter 11 filing, or in the case of Chrysler, a potential liquidation and total loss of pensions etc. Lets not turn this into a mud slinging match. The fact of the matter is that everyone needs to look at this very closely, and make it work. The loss of these jobs will absolutely DEVASTATE Ontario's economy. If you think things are tough now, this is a fairy tale compared to what COULD happen.
  6. Here is one that will make you shake your head. The head of the CAW is ready to play chicken with the Fiat & Chrysler merger. Apparently, he not prepared to match the wages paid by the Japanese automakers, and feels that the CEO of Fiat is bluffing by saying that they will kill the merger unless those concessions are made by hourly workers. His feeling is that it is unlikely that Fiat would back out of the deal at this stage. He is willing to allow Chrysler to slide into bankruptcy should the deal fall apart. Now that is a great plan for 8500 Chrysler workers. Wow.
  7. Agreed Marc. It tells a bleak story when GM can get 15 or 20 Billion dollars, and it isnt enough to save them. Their cash burn rate is MASSIVE!! Gm is a behemoth, along with all the NA original big 3. It looks today that Chrysler is in big big trouble. Fiat has threatened to pull out of their deal unless the UAW & CAW reduce labour costs to Japanese worker levels (I dont know what that is). Everything always seems to fall on the little guy. The biggest singles issue facing the auto makers right now, including toyota & honda, is that demand for vehicles is forecast to be about 11 million vehicles, but the cost structure is set up for about 17 million vehicles, with break even in around 15-16 million total units industry wide. Simply put, there is far too much capacity, and some plants will need to be mothballed. I heard a comment made by the ex-CEO of GM, which essentially was that small cars are a fad, and that Americans will always buy the largest car they can afford (aka SUV). He admitted that they hitched their wagons to SUV and Truck sales, as they are the most profitable, and that they gambled the comapny's future on the continued demand in that sector. One thing that does have me concerned about the future of auto manufacturing in Canada is some of the wording in the US Stimulus package, which "encourages" products purchased under the stimulus bills to be mad in America. Obama claims that this is not intended to impact canadian steel, etc, however when US Steel shut the Hilton works and Lake Erie plants, the work was moved to Pittsburgh. These huge companies could care less about WHERE the products are made, but the profits that can be turned on each unit. According to a recent report I read from Ford Canada, the new CAW contract negotiated with GM will actually cost the Canadian divisions 10.00/hr MORE in labour than in the US, all factors considered. That is why Ford & Chrysler have rejected the contract and are trying to negotiate it better. I would certainly prefer to pay a little more for a truck (I use it for work - Ford F150) if the components were made in North America. There is an awful lot of offshore parts creeping in to these vehicles to cut costs. It just costs us more to maintain down the road, and forces more jobs offshore. We manufacture lifting equipment for Water and Wastewater treament plants, and have comitted to purchasing only North American parts. Ever try to source bolts that are made in North America!??! Cheers
  8. Chapter 11 is a bankruptcy RESTRUCTURING caveat in the legislation. It allows a company to continue normal operations, ie making cars and repairs etc. It is essentially business as usual, with creditor protection. GM is given a certain amount of time to cut costs, renegotiate debt, costs etc, to streamline the company and give it time to make it profitable. The big losers in a Chapter 11 filing are generally the shareholders, as the company value is essentially eliminated. Bondholders are second in line for losses. Air Canada did a chapter 11 protection a few years ago, and actually made money for about 10 minutes. Now they are looking to use Chapter 11 again. GM is advertising heavily likely to attempt to increase sales in the short term to generate some cash, to fund day to day operations, and maybe to pay down some debt. It is highly unlikely that GM will disappear completely from the radar screen, however, they are likely to come out of bankruptcy smaller and far leaner, with fewer brands, plants, and workers. I would think realistically that GM is likely nearly done in Canada in the near future, since our strengthening dollar, high electricity and tax costs are uncompetitive with the US states we compete against for the plants. The provincial government has lost its way (and did years ago) as far as attracting and keeping businesses here in Ontario. The move to hammer companies with various taxes, high energy costs etc has made this environment high cost. However, productivity and quality are extremely high in Canada. GM may have forgotten that they need to encourage consumers to purchase cars that are reliable and safe, which is why they are in such a mess in the first place. If you want to make a difference for the big 3 automakers, it is important to purchase one of their cars. Ford sales are rising recently, since they took none of the bailout cash available, and have taken responsibility and are trying to make internal changes to return to profitability. Hope this ansers some of your questions
  9. Here is a side view of the same fish 31.5" x massive girth Please throw a guess on weight - it felt minimum 17-18 lbs, but I have no experience weighing cats
  10. I thought that was GSP for a minute!! Good on your Bro for beating that guy. Not a sport I would be any good at, but it sure is great to watch!! Now he's 2 & 2. good stuff
  11. I have been using powerpro for the last 3 season, and love it. I use 20 lbs for general use - it is thick enough not to bury itself, and had great breeaking strength. I then use an triple surgeons to connect it to 8-12 lb flurocarbon (another 6-8 ft). It rarely if ever breaks at the knot. I find this gives the sensitivity of braid, with the stealth of fluro. It works for me!
  12. I might have gone thru Caledonia - I just followed the GPS home..... Mine is the black "Team Princecraft" Fishn Canada Boat. Its pretty obvious out there on the water lol.
  13. Hey All My Fiance and I had the day off, and she wanted to go fishing. I appreciate the help on conditions on the Niagara (which werent so good), so we went fo the Grand instead. Saw Steve down at Fishmaster, and he hooked us up with the right gear, bait and some suggestions for where to go. See below for the results. We ended up landing 11 nice fish, with the smallest being maybe 2 lbs. The largest was 31.5" long, and massive girth. Any guesses as to the weight of the last fish? Thanks again to Steve for great advice. And the big one!!!!
  14. Oh I know!!! lol. Those buggers will smack in chocolate sometimes. I just want her to get some!!
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