B6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 15, 1999 CHRISTIANA WIENS - SKEENA ANGLER | ROB BROWN Out in winter ou wouldn’t know there were mountains in this valley, what with the sky so law and gray it's gathered the fog unto itself, filled the valleys, spread out over the flat lands and made sharp peaks look like hills. But they're there, behind that damp curtain. There’s a range of them just downstream of this spot. You can’t see it now, but the middle one has a vee-shaped avalanche chute running down its mid- dle. In the summer it’s filled with alder so lush and green when it’s watered by falls that cascade down its steep slopes, il shimmers in the sun. You’ve got to come back here in the Spring — late April, May, maybe — and see this place under a clear sky. It'll take your breath away. That platform? That’s a gun turret, I’m tald, put there by the railway so they can blast the same chute and cause small slides before the snow makes a troublesome one. It’s a long shot alright. That’s the Usk Chapel: a small room with a roof and only a pew or two. I think it’s nondenomina- tional. If it has a congregation it’s small or they wor- ship in shifts; it'd be a wonderful place for a small wedding. This is Chimdemash. You can catch fish here. Trout pass by from time to time and a load of salmon in summer, but there’s washing machine water al the front ofit and frog water below. It tums your line into a serpent, It’s the same at a lot of creek mouths. You can probe them with lures or soak a’worm; but Ahey. don’t take kindly to flies. ‘Besides, slugging to the river through all that thigh high snow makes you hot and wet, then cald at the end of the day. We'll go further inland. IVll only take another half hour. I hate this slush. When those big chip trucks roar by they cover you with it. Still, I suppose it’s better than ice or blinding flakes as big as your hand, As long as it’s soft and wet like this the river won't freeze. That’s a bonus, for sure. Behind us there’s a range of mountains called the Seven Sisters. You'll have to come back for these too. They're really spectacular, white and sharp, especially from the far side of the river. This is Cedarvale. There used to be emus in this field, big meat birds with giant drumsticks. That’s why I call this the Ostrich Run. It’s actually a place to fish moving fish. There’s not much architecture on the bottom of the river here, just a few holes where fish like to lay by for a little while. Sometimes I catch a passing steelhead here, most often I don't. There may be a dolly varcen or two, [ can’t say. I’ve never fished here this late in the year. ‘Watch your step, these rocks are slick at the best of times. A fisherman’s always standing in some form of water at this time of year. No, they're not wolves. They’re dogs. They sound like a pack of wolves, don't they? I’m sure they howl like that in the fall and summer too. [ haven’t noticed them then, probably because the land absorbs sound so much better when leaves are on the trees and there’s no snow on the ground. The river is louder then too, and there’s lots of other sonic competition. That growl is the grader, the one we passed a few miles back. It's amazing how sounds carry when the fand is wet and reflec- tive. This is a new fly. It’s simple - you just take a crosscut strip of rabbit then tie it on the back of the hook so a tail as long as the hook sticks out the back. Then you wind the strip forward over the hook and over a brass bead tied in at the front. Next you wind some olive hackle then dub olive and brown fur over the head. The bead at the front helps you form a big head, and it makes the fly dive for the rocks like fleeing sculpins do, See, it’s the same colour as the rocks here. That's the ald ferry cable below us, On the far side you can see the old post office, the one with the windows thal look like black eyes, 1 hear the old woman that used to run it passed on a few years ago. Now it looks like somebody has ransacked the place. That's too bad. I think it was one of the old- est post offices in the province, Hete’s a dolly varden. It’s a big one, but too small for this rod. It’s taken the fly deeply. I’m poing to kill it. There look at that, That’s no dolly. That's a steel- head. Let if run a few times. It won't jump at this time of year. There it is. A summer fish. See how red it is. It’s the most colourful thing you’ll see today when everything is brown or. white or gray. Man, what is that fish doing here now? You'd think it’d be at the bottom of a deep pool some- where. Fishing Is ul of, discoveries and surprises, eh? TERRACE STANDARD SPORTS Terrace wrestlers chart strong showing in Hazelton TERRACE wrestlers took second place overall in a 12-team northwest tournament in Hazelton on Dec. 4. After Pam Haugland’s and Angie McRae’s graduation last year, the women’s team has to focus on building new gold medaiists. McRae stuck around to help coach this year’s team and even managed a-first’ place finish herself in the Hazelton warmup meet. Other first place finishes went to: Christa Lambrighi, Brent Tremblay and Darrel Bolton. Melissa Rioux and Robert Wickie managed second place finishes while Andrea Harmel, Addie Sankie and Harry Gill'won third place medals in Hazelton. Terrace’s team, representing the finest wrestlers from Skeena, Caledonia and Thorn- hill, finished in second place with 86 points-in the first meet of the season. Hazelton walked away with the trophy at 149 polnts.. Smithers Secondary pulled in at third with 73 points and Nechako Valley was a close fourth with 70 points. Charles Hayes, Chandler Park, Kelly Road, College Heights, Blackburn Secondary, Prince George Senior Secondary and Fort St. James alsa participated in the event. Terrace’s Christa Lambright looks to be the girls” forerunner early in the season, leading a pack of young first-year girls that will undoubt- edly develop into strong contenders over the next few years. ‘ Terrace’s boys team, however, looks strong already with a healthy mix of veterans and no- vices. Look for more top three finishes from veterans Brent Tremblay, Darrel Bolton and Robert Wickie as the year progresses, That’s not to say team newcomers don’t look: promising as well. “Over half the boys are new and nicely cover the weight groups from 41k to 74k,” said Skeena coach Dave O’Brien. There. are no wrestlers in the heaviest four weight groups. O’Brien plans to send a few wrestlers with Hazelion to Prince George Jan. 8. 638-7283. Most of the team will also attend the B.C, Age Class meet in Kamloops Jan. 14-15, That meet is important said O’Brien, be- cause the whole province will be there. “It's the second biggest tournament of the year,” he said. “Wrestlers get to see how they stack up provincially and (see) who their com- petition is, if they go to the Provincial Cham- pionship.” Because of the sheer number of wresilers at the meet, they also get a chance to compete by weight and age — a definite advantage to Terrace’s younger wrestlers. If they’re good, wrestlers will also gel a - chance to tackle more competitors than usial at the double knockout tournament. Local wrestling fans will get their chance to "see the team inaction here Jan. 29 at Caledo- nia Senior Secondary. This year’s zone championships are being held Feb, 13-at Charles Hayes Secondary in Prince Rupert. The provincials are scheduled in Surrey and the end of February. mw Nice Defense The DP Tadd Trojans beat out the Prince Ruper Rainmakers 96-78 in a noon hour game at Caledonia Dec. 11. The game was part of the Ker- mode Classic basketball tournament, Caledonia’s annual kickoff to the |: basketball season.. By the time this game was played the Kermodes had already won their entry into the final game, played Saturday at 8 p.m. For full results check next Wednesday’s Standard, Scoreboard Oldtimer league stats to Dec. 1 Wednesday, Dec. 1 Sunday, Nov. 28 Recreational league stats to Dec. 2: Thursday, Dec. 2 Tuesday, Nov. 30 | Sunday, Nov. 28 Northern Motor Inn SRD Blues 3 3 Subway 2 Timbermen 283 Northern Motor Inn 412 Subway — 4 Chapter One Aeros White Spot F All Seasons Lightning 2 Chapter One Aeros 6 2 5 Canadian Tire Canadians Back Eddy Bullies Canadian Tire Canadians 3 Precision Builders Blues 4 Sports Scope Can Can Rupert, Smithers take home trophies in Peewee tournament _ Ry TYLER NOBLE was Pioneer Bippers and finishing second * THE TERRACE Skating Club will be having a registra- tion day for a new session of Canskate and Canpower lessons starting in January, 2000. Registration begins Monday, Jan 3 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Arena] lobby. CanskateI ‘Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m Jan. 4 through March 7 Ages 4 and up Canskate II Mondays, Wednesdays, 3:30 pm. to 4:15 p.m. Jan 5. through March 8. Ages 4 and up. Preschoolers Tuesdays, 5:40 p.m. to 6:10 p.m Prices range from $80 to $110 plus a $14 Canadian Figure Skating Association membership and insurance fee. Call Debbie Minhinnick at 635-2477 to register, IMPROVE your child’s indoor soccer skills and get TERRACE hosted its first hockey tourna- ment of the year, with the Peewee House tournament on December 3-5, 1999. Five teams travelled from out-of-town to play Terrace’s five house teams in a 10-team, two-division tournament, In divi- sion “A” were Bradford and Sons (Terrace), Ken’s Trucking (Terrace), Eurocan (Kitimat), Farwest Fuels (Terrace) and the Pioneer Bippers (Smithers). In division “B” were CEP (Kitimat), Landmark Fishing (Prince Rupert), La- kelse Logging (Terrace), Pizza Factory (Kitimal) and Skeena Sawmills (Terrace), The tournament began with round-robin games on Friday night, all day Saturday and early Sunday morning. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the play- _ off round: Finishing first in division “A” was Bradford and Sons. In division “B”, Landmark Fishing placed first and Pizza Factory finished second. On Sunday afternoon, in the 12:45 p.m. game, Bradford and Sons played out-of- town Pizza Factory for third place. The game was close in the early going, but Pizza Factory managed to pull ahead with a 5-3 victory to take third place. Bradford and Sons finished a well-de- served fourth, Christi The The championship game featured the ka two first place teams, Pioneer Bippers : shoott and Landmark Fishing, This game was very close, and quite the thriller. The Prince Rupert team showed that they were the team to beat, as they held on for a 2-1 victory over Smithers’ Pioneer Bip- pers team. The Bippers finished second. Holise play in Terrace resumes De- cember 11, All Arena. them ready for the 2000 outdoor soccer season by enrol- ling them in soccer clinics this January at Centennial registered to play with the Terrace Youth Soccer Asso- ciation last summer. Lessons tun every Saturday beginning Jan. 8 in the school gymnasium. A special clinic for girls starts at 10 a.m,, with additional classes for boys and girls running] . into the afternoon. time player and licensed B.C. Soccer Association coach, Nick Kolias. damage the gym floor) and shin pads to participate, For more information, or to register, call Nick at 635-9231. Registration forms are also available at the Terrace Canskate, Canpower registration Jan. 4 through March 7 Ages three and four power | and Ik Thursdays, 4:30 to 5:20 p.m. Jan. 6 through March 9 power II and Il Sundays, 5:45 to 6:35 p.m. Jan. 9 through March 12 Ages six and up, or able to skate for- ward, backward and stop. Youth soccer clinic ian School. clinic is for youth nine to 12 years old who were lessons concentrate on improving basic individual from end to end drills, passing, receiving and ng to fun games. The lessons are taught by long: children need indoor soccer shoes (that won't ha