INSIDE SPORTS MENUC2 ‘SKEENA ANGLER © ROB BROWN HE AMOUNT fly fishing gear in the local tackle stores is proof of the rapid growth of fly fishing in Skeena, When I first started fishing here there were only a few flies and a handful of fly tying materials to be had. Most of the flies sold in the local sporis shops were gaudy, loosely assembled things whose best feature, according to their manufacturer, was the fact they were ‘‘hand tied’’. I wondered them, as I do now, how it could be otherwise: are some flies tied by dexterous craftsmen using their feet? Are fly tying automatons toiling away at their vises in dingy sweat shops turning out thousands of Royal Coachmen and Green- well’s’ Glories? How things have changed. In the local tackle emporiums you may now buy everything from dry flies small enough to float in a dew drop to articulated leeches the size of garden snakes, all of them tied meticulously, and often beautifully, by oriental women in Thailand (I’m not making this up) who have probably seen more tigers than they have trout. Fly fishing curmudgeons like me Insist on tying our own flies. We convince ourselves we are saving a wad of cash as we cart home little brown bag after little brown bag of expensive fly tying materials; we tell ourselves that our own inventions have some magic allure that ~ “one of them store bought bugs”, because it is _ tied-by someone who has never slipped in a Stream or caught an earlobe with an emant back cast, can’t possibly possess. Because the history of flyfishing in Skeena is ‘ short there are few- native. flies, -]. collect them, . just as some people collect butterflies, For these ‘of you who roll your own, tere are the recipes. Sorty no pictures are possible but I'l] describe them as best I can, ' Skinny Skunk (Finlay Ferguson). Hook: Up eyed salmon, size 8. Thread: Black. Tail: A few fibres of red cock hackle, Rib: Fine silver tinsel Body: A thin strand of black wool yarn or tying thread. Hackle: A few fibres of black hackle, - Wing: A few natural polar bear hairs. _ _ It’s nearly impossible to wrap this fly thin » enough. Finlay’s are anorexic, Since he fishes only a floating line year round, Finlay wants bis flies to penetrate the water column quickly. To facilitate this he uscs a ten foot level leader of “ten pound monofilament. In winter he'll employ the same pattern in a four or a two, Partridge and Orange (Finlay Ferguson) Hook: standard wet fly, sizes 12 and 14. Thread: Black. Abdomen: hot orange yam dressed thinly, Thorax: A pinch of dark brown seal’s fur, Hackle: Brown or Gray Partridge. Inspired by Sylvester Nemes’ books on the soft hackled fly, Finlay decided that this adapta- tion would take steelhead. He was right. One memorable day, using a size twelve, he took two fine summer run Zymoetz stecthead that had resolutely ignored my larger, time-tested patterns. For cutthroat, Fin uses an olive bodied variation as well as the orange version, over wrapping them with clear vinyl as a defense against those toothy fish, Trick or Treat (Doug Webb) Hook: Up eyed salmon, size two, Thread: black or red, Body: silver mylar. Hackle: A stiff black saddlc hackle fronted with a long black marabou plume. Wing: Two strands of copper flashabou tinsel under dyed hot orange polar bear fur. Leech-like patterns: are well known for their ability to sucker steelhead. This one of Webb’s is as effective as the articulated, or rabbit strip versions; in fact, F think it is more effective due to the radiant orange wing. Orange is always a good colour to build into a steefhead fly. The pattern is also quickly assembled. The marabou is wound on in the same manner one winds on 4 cock hackle. Eetham’s Muddier Hook: 2 to 2/0, an Up eyed Mustad Salmon Hook. Thread: 3/0 Black LUGING MAY be a relatively new sport here, but the Ter- race club has wasted little time making its presence felt on the provincial circuit. In its latest recognition of lo- cal talent, the B.C. Luge Asso- ciation has named Ed Hess Coach of the Year for the sport and Volunteer of the Month for March. And it has selected racer Natasha Weitman to try out for the B.C. team next season. That involves taking part in four sanctioned races, her point tally in those competi- tions determining whether she makes the team. “She stands a pretly good -TERRACE STANDARD _ Lugers carve out a niche - chance,”’ Hess said, noting it was only her second year luging. Considering the way it came into being, the club has per- formed remarkably. It all started four years ago, Hess recalled. With the B.C. Winter Games due to come to the northwest for the next two years, the provincial associa- tion wanted to see a club started up here. Hess and Todd Taylor were eventually approached and asked if they would put one together. Neither had any ex- perience of the sport. ‘I didn’t even know what one (a luge) looked like,”’ Hess said. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 31, 1995 - C1 But enthusiasm and talent combined to see two members of the fledgling club selected to try out for the B.C. team in its first year. The following year Taylor was part of the squad that went to the World Cup in Ita- ly, acting as combination coach-equipment manager, The achievements are all the more noteworthy given there is no regulation course locally, Hess explained permanent luge mun are ice-surfaced featuring built-up banks on the turns of up to a foot and a hal€. When the Terrace club wants to practise, they can only mark out a slalom course on the MALCOLM BAXTE R 638-7283 slopes at Shames — ‘‘we use pylons or branches or whatever’s available’’. That allows them to work on braking steering and manovevering in sharp or wide chicanes, but can’t dupli- cate ice track conditions. Apart from being much faster, a regulation run is more demanding because the banks mean when racers goes into one comer, they cannot see the next one, And what about a permanent track at Shames? “‘It’s on the list,” Hess said. “It’s some- thing Todd and | constantly think about.” Cont'd on page C2 eT a ee ees Ho hum THE KERMODE Klassic may be a big deal to the hordes of runners who took part in last Sat- urday's event, but it was a bit of a yawner as far as the youngster pictured above was con- cemed. Even the cheers of encouragement from those at the finish line failed to wake him. Keitch, Smith | tops in Glory TERRACE RUNNERS came close in the annual Glory Days road race, but only Justin Keitch and Jennifer Smith were able io come away from the Prince Rupert event as age class winners, | Keitch clocked 40:02 in the very competitive 10km race to take the under-19 men’s title and narrowly miss out on a top-four overall pacing. Smith scored her victory over the 5km course, her .23:58 the fastest of the 16-19 years ladies entries, Kim Bartiere put in a strong performance in the Skm, finishing in 22:09 for second place overall among. female competitors, Jeass than a minute and a half off the pace, Other, runner-up spots in- cluded Dave Cater’s per- formance in the men’s 20-39 years 10km division and Heidi Siebrig’s 44:34 clocking in the ladies under-19, also at 10km. Prince Rupert runners Bernd Guderjahn and Lisa Sambo were overall winners at 10 km, the Skm overall titles going to Francois Marceau of Rupert and Telkwa’s Rae-Lyn Pierce. No rain, please ORGANIZERS OF this weekend’s Co-ed 4-on-4 vol- leyball tournament are hoping the weather co-operates. That's because it’s going to be played outdoors, at George Little Memorial park, The competition gets under way Friday evening and con- tinues Saturday. There's no limit on team size, but there must be two females and two males on the court at all times. Entry is $10 per player and to enter drop off a list of team members, team name, contact phone number (and the entry fee) with Richard Kriegl at Bert’s Deli. The deadline for entries is today, Seniors return from Texan trip all smiles TERRACE SENIOR athletes returned from San Antonio last week, some wearing ribbons and all wearing smiles. a Led by Zone 10's own Bud Kirkaldy, Team Canada’s coach © >