He aeh “ROB BROWN. Invaluable read HERE ARE muiillions of fishermen in North America and, despite declining numbers of fish in so many fisheries, the sport continues to grow, Happily, fly fishing is probably the sector ex- periencing the most rapid growth, Te I say happily because sportsmen who embrace ‘the fong rod have generally served an ap- prenticeship in other gear types. - The dividend of that is a deeper appreciation for quarry and environment that- might have been gained clining to bait casting and its im- poverished ethic. ‘Given the burgeoning interest in fly fishing , it is not surprising scores of books devoted to the . , pursuit find their way, on to book shelves every “. year. _ There are gems among them, but the Majority * ate the how-to-fish variety: tedious, overly tech- - ical, repetitive and bereft of insight or : originality. -After wading through © dozens of books ny promising the key to angling nirvana, I’ve . “retumed to the shore with the conclusion any _ book with “Better,” “How,” “Tactics” or ; _ “Bigger’’ in iis title is best left on the shelf. Valuable books are the product of observa- tions, deep thought, emotion.and crafismanship. .., Brown are invaluable to anglers, beginner and “expert alike, In works like A River Never Sleeps or the sea- sonal quartet Fisherman's Spring/Summer/Fall and: Winter, the reader is swept along by fine writing bom of intelligent reflection and many hours on the river. His books are about much more than fishing, but when the reader wades the river with him a lot of learning takes place. From descriptions in his books, I've dressed a few of his fly pattems and a couple have be- come prominent weapons in my arsenal: not surprising since they are the brainchild of a man who understood a lot about west coast rivers and how to fish them, . There would be more Haig-Brown dressings in my wallet by his descriptions were not ac- companied by drawings or photos and the con- figurations of the patterns are not always clear. Now, Art Lingren has filled that gap with a superb book simply. titled Fly Patterns of Roderick Haig-Brown. Lingren, a fine angler, superb fly-tyer and stu- dent/historian of angling in B.C., has spent 10 years researching his subject. He studicd Haig-Brown’s text, interviewed family members and anglers who knew and fished with him and, where possible, studied the original patterns, —- The result is a highly instructive work which can stand on its own or Serve as a concise intro- duction to Haig-Brown’s own works. Between the front piece — the author’s sketch of the Haig-Brown house, Above Tide — and _ That is why the 11 books by Roderick Haig: ” his photo of the sun atop sea on the seventy-first . and final Page, there are many delights and in- sights, Van Egan, Haig-Brown’ 5 fishing partner, slarts the-reader off by setting the context in which Rod Hair-Brown created and angled. Angling -history is thematic throughout the - book. Besides Van Egan, Tommy Bradshaw, Paul Moody Smith, Frank Darling, Bob Taylor, ‘ ‘Lee Straight, Peter Broomball and other impor- ° _ tant Canadian anglers surface in the text or lie, - influentially, just below it. Dressing for fly patterns are listed beside large, clear photos of each taken by Jim Schollmcyer, who deserves praise for making fine and functional plates. The author’s photographs of fish, all of them alive and about to be released save for a fat, sil- _ Very slab of a coho, are superb specimens ex- pertly captured by rod and on film. Haig-Brown appears in three photos: once fishing the Gold River and in two sepia coloured prints taken 30 years apart, fascinating pictures strategically placed to enhance the text. “7 am not myself a good or even enthusiastic fly tyer,” wrote Haig-Brown, ~* “{ usually tum to the vice and feathers out of irritation, frustration or puzzlement, though I sometimes have a bright idea that will not be denied.” Art Lingren’s book Is a bright idea that will be welcomed by anglers everywhere and especially ; bya those on, the west coast. Vee og Trail ado pt TRAIL WORK carried out recently by members of the local hiking club is part of a growing trend in the northwest. The club has -“‘adopted’’ the Thornhill Mountain Trail, to be named ..the Vick Krykdy lywy) Memorial Trail in honour of their late long ‘time member who was one of the driving forces behind theclub, ; . Recalling that Kryklywyj had made almost every bike during the neafly dozen years she was a member, Kelly Kline added she had led most of the hikes and shown members where all the tails were in the area. Kline said the club had been looking for a trail to dedicate to her when the Forest Service sug- gested a partnership on the Thornhill trail. Nine members braved wet, blustery weather Oct. 22 to place a-sign post at the foot of the trail, then worked their way up the hillside, cleaning it up as. they went. Under the Adopt-a-Trail agree- ment, the club provided the maintenance manpower while the ’ Forest Service came through with tools, plaque. and liability insur- ance. Cari Johanson supervises Forest Service recreation sites and trails. He pointed out this is the third management agreement entered into in the area. The others are with the Kitimat Cross Country Skiing club for the > Onion Lake trails and with the lo- cal Snowmobile club for Sterling Mountain. There are different types of agreements, some of which give the group involved the option of charging user fees on the under- standing the revenue is spent on LONE HIKER rests atop Thornhill Mountain, i Lakelse | up has been adapted by local hiking club members, and Is now named the Vicki Memorial ion honours Vicki’ trail work. Johanson said he is currently talking with the Terrace Boy Scouts about their adoption of a trail in the Hai Lake area, near Lakelse Lake. And he hoped to get a formal’ agreement in place with the Northen Aquanauts, That Kitimat-based group has over the years carricd out maintenance work at Weewannie Hotsprings on the Douglas Channel. “It helps the (Forest Service) dollars go a bit further,” Johanson said of these types of agreements, et . . e Crowning it up HARLEM CROWNS’ Ray Daglow will be among the comic hoop geniuses that take on the Terrace Teacher/Community All Stars on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Caledonia gymnasium. Tickets ara $7 at the door, Facing off against the Crowns include: teachers Dave Crawley, Dave O'Brien, Edgar Veldman, Dighton Haynes, Dave Cater, Dave Bartley, Scott Stewart, Scott Armstrong, Roy Vick, and local stage ac- tor John McGowan. LeBlanc skates at B.C. meet Flawless P.G. performance earns her sectional berth VANESSA LEBLANC carves her brand of art on ice this week at provincial fig- ure skating championships in Powell River. The Terrace skater who moved to Prince George this summer qualified for the Nov. 8-13 B.C. Sectional meet last month at the Cariboo-North Central Region qualifying championship. LeBlanc flawlessly landed three new doubles in a stellar performance that catapulted her to the top of the field of 24 juvenile girls. **I was just trying to have fun and kept telling myself, “You can do this,’” she said after the win. The double flip, double toe loop and double lutz in the final were new to her competitive routine. “I landed three new doubles this sum- mer and it was really exciting to do be- “cause I’d-just golten here and all of the sudden I started landing them,’ she said. LeBlanc landed one. of..two regional . berths for the B.C, sectionals. The recent success follows her win at the juvenile division of the Summer Skate competition in Vancouver im July. Also competing in Prince George on Oct. 20 were six Terrace Skating Club members. Carol Kozier. and Daniel Miller qualified to compete at the B.C. Winter Games in February in primary ladies and primary men’s singles events. The other Terrace competitors there in- cluded Kendra Eys, Leanne Ballinger, Catherine Audet, and Lee-Anna Huis- man, It was an auspicious weekend, as three olher Terrace Skating Club ‘members were recognized at a Cariboo North Cen- tral Region awards ceremony there. Stephanie Miller received a special achievement award, Longtime judge and skating club member Monica Lessard received an award recognizing her ' volunteer contribution. And Lee-Anne Ballinger receivedan award for her amateur instruction, SHKATERS Carol Kozier and Dania! Mil- ler wilf represent the Terrace Skating Club at the B.C, Winter Games.