_ MARGARET SPEIRS rer. Pee ers fe ae ea eae eee phere eaten: arate teres peel etmewcmme mere? wie ke ee ese ee oe WAN ae J! 4 ut : € i” , 4 . x x ? # on 1. ad Coe 2 care, MERA eS . .B4- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 10, 2006 ~ block, unbelieving that logg - renowned river was possible. I couldn’t give him a Mm §6SKEENA anereE _ROB: BROWN | A box of flies xc ‘tion. The pockets of my raincoat, my an- ' gling bag, aiid the close-at-hand drawers in There are. hinged peppermint boxes, most .of . them: manufactured by Lofthouse of Fleetwood in ~ Lancashire,England, makers- of the menthol: and ~ eucalyptus lozenge branded Fisherman’s Friend. Taking my old partner, Finlay Ferguson’s, lead, _s | [cut bits of weather stripping, stuck them to the a inside’ of the box: then stuck flies into: their spongy |’: part. Finlay preferred Altoids.’ I thought the Fisherman’s Friend tins, with ae _ picture of a’ pipe smoking, yellow-slickered tar on * the foreground, and what appears to be a trawler in «the background of its lid, was more fetching, if not ia Appropriate. , There are also a few fy boxes. of yesteiyear: a . pair of atuminum. Wheatley boxes, . also made in - ° Great” Britain, ‘but’ unrecycled and considerably: more expensive; one of these sports large clips for salmon flies, the other has small compartments with “spring-loaded windows for dries; and a so-called Neroda box, a hybrid of thick reddish. brown plastic and aluminum clips bearing. the, imprimatur of the ; House. of: Hardy. ~This- last box is given over to ‘the flies - some bummed, some’ traded, some freely given, some snatched unapologetically from their surprised - owner’s box with a wink and a curt thank you — that [have acquired over three decades of prowling riv- ers. . « ' The box is so stuffed it no longer closes. When T look at its reflective contents, a faux menagerie replete with the physical realizations of angling as- pirations and dreams, each a glimpse of its maker, ‘I see colourfui illustrations, one per chapter, in a « book of angling. adventures now over 50 chapters in length.: _ There is, for example, the ridiculously meticu- lous black bug built of foam, hair, and of all things, | one of the those plastic tags used to cinch carrot _bags at supermarkets, an amazing waking. pattern * built by a Dutchman named Menno, whom I met at _ the end of a long drift on the Kispiox River.’ He was staring across the river at.a fresh cut- gitig so’close to a world » ‘satisfactory explanation. oo, We.sat at a picnic table. At the end of a conver- ~ sation that inevitably led to steelheading; he pulled a film canister from a vest pocket, opened it and * shook. the contents, a trio of those black hump- backed, plastic-bafiled bugs, onto the table. ” In the clip next to the Dutch Bug is one of Phil Letham’s encephalic Muddlers, one of his go-to » bullheads that he fished summer and winter, high in the water and near the bottom; the same pattern — in fact it might be the one he used at Glenn Falls, before the top ofa mountain fell on that sweet run * —to land more steelhead than | thought possible to _land in one pool. ° ‘Under Phil's favourite lies the small precision built German beetle. [obtained from a young over- weight Swiss psychiatrist who looked as if-he had ‘yet to experience physical exertion after the day | we’d trekked down then up steep slopes in the up- _-per Zymoetz. At one .point during ‘a particularly ~ steep one of the ups he called up to me. I turned and saw he was blushing brightly and dripping profusely. { think that I will’sit now then move slowly, he announced. . - [- think. that is wise, I agreed. _ Next to the shrink’s fly i is one of Shoji Inouye’ s Sofa Pillows — a bottle washer with a tail of calf hair dyed red, topped with gray squirrel, trailing a | body of tightly spun furnace hackle, craftily and beautifully dressed as only Shoji could before his health was compromised and his fly tying career cut short by continuous exposure to the toluene in head ‘ cement. Shoji’s pillow, a creative take on the tradition Montanan trout pattern, brings back memories of he’ ~ and Gary Wray and days on the Bulkley at the West End Road, Quick and the Walcott Walk Bridge in the days when we'd fish all day on the water be- tween Telkwa and Smithers and seldom see a soul. The Pillow is a’bushy dry fly meant for the film. "Gary and. Shoji fished them just under it with the fast sinking lines of the day v whose tips sank slowly and nailed summer runs that way. And so it goes: Lingren’s GP, Van Eagan’s blue fly, Walt Johnson’s Lady Coachman, Bob Taylor’s Golden Spey, Doug Webb's Trick or Treat...an exciting diary in fur and feathers and bits of tinsel with happy entries for the most part. dlishermen z are box collectors. P 'm no excep- ~ the part of my studio devoted to angling are full of them. .. 7 “There are containers from my plastic age, “alt of them derelict as a result of a growing sensitivity to plastic and.a fondness for the fee, durability, and practicality of leather and fleece, PERSISTENCE, TERRACE STANDARD fe Reaching for the prize Wrestler shares experiences of hard work, and. success with students : By MARGARET SPEIRS patience and practice rocket young people to their goals. That’s the message wres- ~ ter Nick Ugoalah, gold med- three-time senior taught allist and nationa) champion, to Grade 4 to 8 students at. - is tling team at Brock Universi- » Centennial Christian Schoot ‘April 25, as. part of an Es- : _.teem Team presentation. | . Ugoalah held the students’. ‘attention. with . _ anecdotes about his life and ° climb to the top of wrestling. Ugoalah chose Kenton’ Veldman, 10, to wrestle him. —Veldman laughed along — with his. school mates .as Ugoalah told him the rules’ included no hitting him with a chair and running away. He took a wide stance for ‘stability and in one smooth motion, flipped Veldman to the mat before letting Veld- man attempt to flip him. Ugoalah, who left Nigeria for Canada at age 9, began _ wrestling in Grade 12 and © _ quickly to'take the gold med-. won gold in‘overtime at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester’England. He pinned :his- opponent al after: recovering from an : altempt to flip him onto his By DUSTIN QUEZADA humourous ~ back. . “ He said what's important _ | isn’t what happens to you but what you do about it. “When change | comes, don't run from it,” he said. “If something: is new, learn ~ more about it and you'll feel more comfortable, he said. He tried out for the wres- ty and didn’t make it, but the = coach gave him permission to practise with the team.’ After - -watching the na- tional wrestling champion- ship, he told the coach that — next year he’d not only make. "the team but, win that’ cham, pionship.: ~“T remember how scared - TL was because now I actually © have to make it happen,” he - said. “The easiest way is to ask someone who! 8 done it: before.” He asked Aaron Pomeroy, _a former Canadian inter-uni- versity wrestling champion, for advice and was told the okey to success: persistence, - patience and practise. _ Persistence helps you keep _ trying, patience is necessary when success doesn’t happen overnight and practise: takes you to the top, he said: He trained, made the team and sualinies for Provincials matchup that saw the lower seed advance, though prermecepromenres eats W HILE MEMBERS of the parent Vancouver Canucks are 20 days into their golf season, Wade- - Flaherty just keeps on winning playoff games in the American Hockey League (AHL). .,— Frustrated during the season by a new rule in the National Hockey League’s ing ‘agreement that kept him with the Manitoba _ Moose all year, the Terrace goaltender is back- stopping a team into the second round of the AHL playoffs for the third straight year. At press time, Flaherty stopped 30 of 31 shots: as his Moose opened the North Division Finals with a 3-1 win in Game | versus the Grand Rapid Griffins, the league’s regular season ‘champions. “ The Moose didn’t appear headed to the. second round, opening the playoff with two road losses to the Syracuse Crunch despite Flaherty allowing - _ just three goals in two games. However, the Moose rattled off three straight home wins before finishing the Crunch on Syra- | cuse ice in Game 6. Flaherty would finish with al. 58 goals against “average and a .940 saves percentage in the Six games. The .Manitoba win was the only first round Kermodes blank Hazelton, but are shocked by Smithers sure. s collective bargain- sure on you, back,” KENTON VELDMAN, 10; laughs at one of the many stories told by. wrestler Nicho- las Ugoalah, who’spoke about how to succeed in sports and life at Centennial: Christian School April 25. MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO. where he...was pinned. by. - his opponent; but he didn’t let anything. deter him. He changed his routine, made it to nationals and won. ’ “When. you reach your goal, you get so- many gifts he said. . “We have what it takes,” Syracuse finished just two. ‘points above the Moose in the standings. «: " ” Heading into a meeting With Grand Rapids, the top farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, Flaherty says he knows he'll be under tremendous pres- “They’ve got a’pretty good team,” Flaherty - ‘said. “I think they’ve got eight guys who scored | 20 or more goals and a well balanced attack.” The 38-year-old goalie says the Moose have to be disciplined. “It’s critical we stay out of the penalty box be- cause they've got a great power play,” he said. Manitoba did fare well versus the league lead- ° ers, owning a 3-1-1-3 record. with five of eight meetings requiring an extra period todecide. . Despite being underdogs against the Griffins, Flaherty said the team appears to play well -in 0 playoffs when they start on the road-— save this year’s first round. “When you start on. the road, there's no pres- ’ Flaherty said, adding the goal is to win both games but a split would. be sufficient. . Since the Canucks missed the playoffs and Detroit lost inthe first round. both teams’ rosters feature some players that finished. the season in DANIS BACHEK of Caledonia, left, races Smithers Gryphon Laura Graham for the ball during the soccer play day at Christy Park April 29. - MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO . ’ THE . easy “he said of everyone’ s ability to reach their goals. What helped motivate him .was a mentor who saw some- - thing in him that he'didn’ te The mentor said he. could be everything, he wanted to, be... on | became one of the best the NHL. This postseason, high school athletes just be- causé he, told me I was awe-- ‘some,” Ugoalah said. “How _ many people tell kids they’ re “awesome?” ‘The Esteem Team i is a na- tional role model program ". connecting athletes with stu- 7 -dents.. oose season keeps. rolling — Ironically for’ Flaherty, who pined to be play-. ing in the NHL this year and deserved the chance" based on his play, he is again playing important ° games in the month of May while Canuck regu- lars have begun their off season. “Anytime there’s .an opportunity to play in the NHL and you don’t, it’s a frustrating point,” Flaherty said. “But I’m‘not going to worry about . ‘shoulda, coulda, woulda, 9 Flaherty doesn’t have Alex Auld, who emerged as Vancouver’s starting ‘keeper this season, he’ll be starting barring an injury. “It’s different but I played the first 12 games last year,” said the 17-year professional. “Everybody enjoys playing and that’s what it’s all about.” Despite nearing ‘the age when most players’ skills are declining, Flaherty continues to excel. He won the AHL All-Star co-MVP in midsea- as a partner and knows that son and following the’ regular season, players and Team. By JILL HAWORTH CALEDONIA Kermodes split two games when they welcomed teams from around the northwest to a-soccer tournament play ~ day here April 29. “Our first game. was-so that we didn’t even see the second one coming. Even though we didn’t come out on top, we tried really " hard and I think we will have a much better shot at beating them next time.” said Yash Gill about the game against Smithers that didn’t quite go according to expectations. The Kermodes were de- . game of ups and downs. . This loss came as a shock to the.team who expected to crush Smithers as it had in the past. “Tt was a learning expe- rience for us,” * said player Caitlin Robertson. “We didn’t have the op- portunity to play Smithers this year before that game so we didn’t Teally know what to expect.” The Kermodes played their first game extremely well, destroying Hazelton media voted him to the league’s second All-Star Two seasons ago,* ‘the Terrace Minor Hockey product became the first goalie to win all 16 games to'capture the Calder Cup as a member of the Milwaukee Admirals. 9-0. w The shutout wasn't sur- prising because Hazelton seems to be one of the weak- er teams in the league, The girls had fun, tak- ing their time and practicing skills they are usually hesi- - tant to try in games. Hazelton is not'actually— a member of the northwest zone that Terrace belongs to, but participated in the tour- “nament for extra, Practice and fun. ° Due to the fact that every ‘team didn’t have the option . to play every other team, . there was no actual tourna-. “ment winner. ‘feated 4-1 during an intense « Overall, it was an inter- - esting day for the girls with _good opportunities to watch _ other teams and see how | everyone was playing this year, Now that the girls know how their competition plays, they are. hoping to do better at their tournament in Kiti- mat this weekend. Hopefully by the time _ zones come, on May 20, the Kermodes will beat Smith- ers and show exactly which team should be named zone champion. 7 ry