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_ SPORTS MENU C2

KEENA ANGLER.”
ROB BROWN |

Casting back

HERE WERE steclhead porpoising
next to the rock bluff on the far side
of the river. They were ripe, so it
must have been spring. It was dur-
ing the phase of my angling carcer when I knew
almost everything there was to know about fish-
ing, so it must have been quite a few years ago,
because I know next to nothing about it now,
and I’m not ashamed to admit it, In any event, it
was before the time I began keeping detailed
diarics of fishing expeditions. I] have nothing to
refresh my recollections, yet the image of a
young right-ianded man casting frantically over
his left shoulder still sticks prominently out of
the softening images that make up the prowing
haze that will one day envelop my memory.

If you write with your right and cast with your
right, you naturally cast over your right
shoulder, right? You can find a reason to cast
backhand, sidearm, even backwards, but there is
no earthy reason to perform the perilous feat of
casting across your body and over your left
Shoulder, exposing nose, lips, earlobes and
eyeballs to a crucily barbed hook. But, this fel-
low was doing just that. I hadn't seen anybody
do it before,

His eyes were on the prize when they should
have been on the wajectory of that big steelhead
fly. He was new to fishing, | supposed, and had
probably never caught — or even seen — fish
that large. The idea of catching one of them had
him by the throat, He was feverish, perilously
close to coming unraveled. I waited for the in-
evitable: ihe loud thwack, the shrill scream, ihe
penctration of flesh and bone by iran.

As I neared him the sound of my wading
startled the young man before he could inocu-
late himself with what Jooked like a number
two, store-bought, Skykomish Sunrise, dressed,
2X strong and 2X long upon an Eagle Claw
Hook. He tumed abruptly. His face was red

_ from exertion, almost crimson like the wool

body of his Oy. His bair was orange. His eyes
were pale blue,

“There's big fish over there,” he pointed his
rod in the direction of the steelhead. ‘‘I can’t get
my line out that far.’? He paused, quickly
looked at the fish again then back at his reflec-

_ tion in my sunglasses. “Can you cast that far?"’

I smiled a step-outa-my-way-son-and-F'll-
show-ya-how-il’s-done smile, the kind of smug
erin that lifts its leg and pees on yours, the ar-
rogant upward curl of the lip that makes you
wish the smiler were in your will so you could
write him the hell out of it; then I waved him
out of my way, began pulling line from my reel
in preparation for a cast well within reach of my
double-haul. Before impressing him, I salted the
wound opened up by my razor sharp, smart-
assed grin with a sardonic, ‘‘So, are you new at
this sport?’’

The strokes of the double-haul are so quick
and so short you will miss them if you blink. Its
purpose is to increase the line speed with two
sharp pulls, one on the back cast, and one as the
line moves to the fore. When the timing is per-
fect a double-hauled fly line will unfurl over the
water a very impressive distance in front of the
double-hauler. If leaving a big impression is
your goal, Tengthening the pulls —- even though
its technically inferior — will let the other
anglers appreciate your prowess from great dis-
tances,

I rolled out the linc in an exaggerated,
pompous sweep, swept it back with a crisp

' downward jerk on the line, let my hand drift

back as the double taper unfurled behind me,
and made another beautifully timed pull. The
fly came forward at a breathtaking speed, and
hit my hal with the force of a ninety mile an
hour fast ball. Smack! Elegance turned to in-
eptitude. The hat flipped forward and flopped
onto the water, firmly impaled, atop it lay a pile
of tangled line.

I’ve made a few errant casts in my time: stuck
my flies in trees, snapped them. off on rearward
rocks, once I even snagged my dog, But, until

then, I’d never sunk a barb into myself,

My audience looked at the heap, then at me.
He smiled a big smile.

‘So, are you new at this sport?” he said,

Since that black day I’ve realized I wasn't as
hot a caster as I thought, Like the majority of fly
fingers, I could put out a fair bit of line with
conventional forward casts, There is a lot more
to fly casting than the overhead throw, however.
There are over thirty useful ways to sent your
lure out to a fish. Everyone of these techniques
increases your effectiveness and your pleasure.
The Skcena Flyfishers will be conducting a
clinic of casting designed mainly to introduce
novices to the joys of casting, but for those who
can already cast a fly and wish to learn more we
hope to provide instruction on the more
sophisticated casts. Sign up at local tackle shops
and try your hand at the double haul. ~

Kermodes

ANYTHING CAN happen on
any given day,

That was Caledonia
Kermode coach Cam MacK-
ay’s approach going into last
night’s opening game in the
Senior Boys basketball provin-
cials.

“Any team down there is
good,’’ he said prior to the
match up with Brookswood of
Langley, but added the
Kermodes at their best could
match them.

Cal have a slightly longer
road to travel than a dozen of
the squads at the
championships.

With 20 teams qualified, the
bottom eight on the rankings
— which includes the
Kermodes — have to play in a
preliminary round with the
winners advancing to the regu-
lar tournament.

“We just ahve to win the
first and go from there,’’ he
said, ““We have the capability.

From there, he conceded, it
will get tougher, especially
since a win over Langley
would send them up against #2
ranked SMU.

With Cal not having a lot of
height, he said a sound
defence would be a key to suc-
cess plus a strong transition
game. ‘“‘We don’t want to let
the opposition run and gun, we
want to be doing that.’”

Defence was a big factor in
the Kermodes zone victory
over the Prince Rupert Rain-
makers.

Series all-stars Jon Melegrito
and Travis Adams, thorns in
Cal’s side in game two, were
effectively blanketed through-
out the rubber game and never
found the room of the night
before.

“We wanted to control Jon,
wear him down,” said MacK-
ay, “That's why we threw a
lot of different guys at him.

In the decider, the
Kermodes’ two quick baskets
at the end of the first quarter
and two more early in the sec-
ond gave them a lead of a
dozen and put them in the
driver's seat.

And when Shawn Cross —
to be named most valuable
players at game’s end — con-
verted a turnover into a spec-
tacular dunk, the Kermodes
and the crowd knew they were
on their way.

From there the only time the

TERRACE STANDARD.

when they put together five
quick points at the beginning
of the third to get within ten,

But Cross and Joe
Dominguez struck for three
and five respectively to open it
up again.

In the fourth a relaxed Cal
squad took control, running
the possession clock to the
limit every chance they got on
the way to a 63-47 triumph.

Kermedes Todd Kluss and
Brian Demedeiros were named
to the all-star team.

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 156, 1995 - C1

-SECTIONC

Rainmakers threatened was

aim to cut ‘wood

}

vim

P O RTS - MALCOLM BAXTER 638-7283

DESPITE

HAVING to fight cramping in his legs all

game, Joe Dominguez (#6) again proved his worth to
the Kermodes in the zone championship finale. And
coach Cam MacKay is seen mapping out strategy for

IN FULL FLIGHT. Garth ‘Coxford attacked from the and was rewarded with a bronze medal,

his squad during a second half time out.

Bluebacks

start of his AAA provincial championship 200m Fly _ finaled in eight events and just missed on two more,

AAAs point to long course success

A BRONZE medal for Garth
Coxford highlighted a strong
Blueback showing at the AAA
provincial swim
championships.

Coxford posted the fourth
fastest time in the heats, put-
ting in what coach Mike Car-
lyle called‘‘a smart race’’,

Involved in a duel most of
the way, Coxford let his op-
ponent go in the last 25m and
concentrated on conserving his
energy,

In the finals, he attacked
from the start, posting close to
a personal best. over the first
50m and finishing in 2:22,

four seconds quicker than his
heat and only three seconds
off a Youth National qualify-
“ing time,

Carlyle noted the swim was

all the. more impressive be-

cause Coxford had missed a
lot of training because of a
‘broken bone in his hand.

Carlyle hoped Coxford
would be able to hit the Youth
qualifying mark over the sum-'
mer and book a trip to the 96
nalionals.

_Another who could be going
to that championship ~ is
Audrey Erb who finished fifth:

‘Cont'd on page C2