The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 29, 1994-1

-SKEENA ANG
ROB BROWN

Luring gourmets

NGLING FOR trout with a fly during
longest days of the year is as chal-
lenging as any fishing I know. Much
has been written about the selective
appetites of the exotic cast side brown trout that
swim in hallowed streams of New York State,
and of their continental progenitors lurking in
weedy, slaw-moving chalk streams, sipping tiny
insects, susceptible only to the most accurate
dressing fished with impeccable execution.

Rainbow trout and cutthroat are not held in
high esteem in the fishing journals, Somehow
the trout of the western slopes, Oncorhynchus
Gardinerii and Ocorhynchus Clarkii are
regarded as country bumpkins: an uncultured
and unsophisticated lol. Sure, they are nice fish
to catch — it’s hard to find a feistier, more
acrobatic fish than a rainbow, and a large cutt is
a handsome fish capable of pulling hard too —
bul the true test of an angler’s mettle is whether
he can bring a savvy, well-proportioned brown
trout to the fly. Hmmm.

I say this notion is just so much spinach, and I
challenge any hot shot angler — any brown
trout expert —~ to test his skills on my beloved
north coast culthroats, to prove it to himself or
herself,

It is difficult to make comparisons, of course,
since the habitat of brown trout differs so great-
ly from that of our native fish. There are times,
for example, when it is hard to avoid catching
culls, given the presumption that a fisher has a
grasp of rudimentary technique. This pleasant
situation occurs when our rivers are plugged
with migrants and temporarily resident salmon
fry. As local anglers know well, the trout are
looking for the bright flash of light reflected
from the sides of immature salmon; any fly, no
matler how scruffy, which reflects light in a
similar manner will catch trout in absurd num-
bers. I’ve occasionally caught as many as thirty
fish in an evening when fry fishing, and I’ve
heard of others who have had caught even more.
If a similar abundance of silver minnows were
common in eastern streams J] suspect brown
trout would gobble them just as recklessly, and
prodigious catches would be recorded there too,

When spring is over and the large schools
migrant fry have passed through the systems,
the cutthroat, except in rare opportunistic in-
stances, lurns from piscivore to insectivore; then
(hat he gets as fussy about its food as the fus-
siest child,

Like its eastern relations, the cutthroat dines
on mayflies, stone Hies, caddis flies, midges
garnished with the occasional bee, ant or cranef-
ly. The first problem is to determine what kind
of feeding activity is going on and what stage of
insect the fish are feeding upon, I’ve knocked
myself out trying to consistently catch cutthroat
when the flash of their sides as they turn to feed
tells me they are fattening upon some kind of
larvae. Taking samples with the aid of ascreen
l’ve managed to come up with some simple but
convincing imitations which will catch nice fish
one day but do nothing on the next.

When rises show that the fish are feeding on
emerging nymphs or adults, and the nature of
the rise indicates that day’s special, it is still dif-
ficult 10 catch large fish, and catch them can-
sistently. A week ago splashy rises and observa-
lions of air borne bugs indicated that the fish
were ambushing caddis flics. A size 14 caddis
imilation brought fish after fish up but each
refused to take. Fish, incidentally, do not miss
artificial flies, they refuse them when something
about the ure — it’s drift, perhaps, or possibly
its size or colour — fails te convince them. In
the failing light ] played a hunch and changed to
the same pattern but in a size 16. The only dif-
ference between the two flies was the first was
one millimeter longer than ihe second,

Apparently that small difference was critical.
One goad trout after another, six in all came to
the smaller pattern before a whitefish swal-
lowed it so deeply I couldn’t extract it with for-
ceps and was forced to break the tippet, Now,
Is hard to imagine fish more selective than
that.

Over the last fifleen years I’ve encountered
midging fish a few times that would not move
'o any fly larger that a size 22. The Lakelse
River bas numerous species of small mayflies
and micro caddis, and if an angler doesn't have
fish a reasonable representation of the hatch in
manner suggesting the specific insect on the
water at the time, he will do no good.

Rick Hafele’s Book Western Hatches is es-
sential, as aré a small screen, a bug net, a mag:
nifying glass and some form of collecting jar
and a diary are essential toals for the angler
aiming for success with selective fish. After a
decade of study and practise a person can ex-
pect some degree of success, Fooling finicky
fish is very ‘Salisfying.

— -  geetione «=o
po MALCOLM E BAXTER 638-7283

Scouts looking to Terrace”

Jason Krug
chases the
puck south

JASON KRUG is Minnesota
bound, .

Krug, a 21-year-old hockey
player who still calls Terrace
home, was scouted by Mankato
State University to play defense
with the Mavericks at the public
university in southern Minnesota.

While he had another offer
from Providence College near
Bosion, Krug chose the Mankato
deal hands down.

Both Mankato and Providence
offered to pay half of, Krug’s tui-
tion, said Krug, but because Pro-
vidence is a private college the
tuition is much more expensive.

At Mankato an out-of-state stu-.
dent pays $7,000 in tuition.

But because of Krug’s good
marks the university will classify
him as an in-state student.

With that change in status,
Krug’s tuition will be $5,200,
half of which will be covered by
his scholarship.

Krug went to Terrace’s Skeena
Jr. Secondary until the end of
grade when he lefi to play for
Notre Dame in the Saskatchewan
Junior Hockey League (SJHL).

He spent his grade 10-12 years
going to school and playing hock-
ey in Notre Dame.

After graduating from high
school in Notre Dame, Krug
opted to play for another year and
a half there.

He then got traded to Melfort,
Saskatchewan team where he
played fora half year.

In the fall of 1993, Krug was
traded to the Lebret Eagles where
he spent this past year playing
defense,

He finished fifth among STHL
defensemen in scoring with 55
points in 68 games.

On top of acting as assistant
captain for the Eagles, Krug
tallied 17 goals and 38 assists in
the 1993-94 season. .

He was chosen as one of three
Eagles to play on the South team
in a SJHL All-Star game in
Minot, North Dakata,

Tt was at that game the sconts
saw Krug perform.

“They just came up to mé at
the game and said they were in-
terested,’’ said Krug of the all-
Star game that gol him voted
Lebrei’s top playoff performer,

He was given questionnaires to
fill out along with promotional
information on the university and
team.

“This is what [ really wanted, ”
Krug said. ‘*This is why I went to
Saskatchewan,’”

A new rink will be built at
Mankato in January, said Krug, It
will seat 5,000 people and house
Olympic size ice.

The Mankato State Mavericks
begin their season on November

11 when they go on the road to
play UW-Superior.

Krug plans (o study business for
four ycars while playing hockey
at Mankato State,

He just got back to Terrace

DEFENSEMAN Jason Krug heads south to-play for the Mankato State Maverick hockey team.

from a college evaluation lourna-
ment in Boston,

He wili be spending this sum-
mer in Terrace, working at PNG

and helping at the local hockey

“school,

Local hockey player may skate his

way to the Canadian Winter Games |
Team B.C. in sight for Kozier |

DAVID KOZIER may be
wearing the Team B.C, jersey
at the 1995 Canadian Winter
Games in Grande Prairie,

The 16-year-old Caledonia
student was selected as one of
46 players to tryoul for the
B.C. bantam team from among
120 players at the April 21-24
B.C. Best Ever tournament in
Sicamous.

Kozier is the only Terrace
bantam player to be invited to
the July 24-31 tryouts in
Osoyoos,

“[ think it would be
awesome ta play for Team
B.C,” said Kozier, adding
that he thinks his chances are
pretty good.

He is one of 24 forwards
who will be trying out for 12
forward positions on the feam.

In early April, Kozier said,

he was one of 46 players in-
vited to tryout for Team North
in Prince George.

He made the final cuts as one
of 20 Team North players to
go 1o the Sicamous tourna-
ment.

David Kozier is the only
Terrace bantam player to
be invited to the Team B.C.
tryouts at the end of July.
If he makes the cuts, he'll
be representing B.C. at the
Canadian Winter Games
held in Grande Praire

“We were the best north
team ever, -’” said. Kozier,

_ “We had one win, one tie and
three very close losses.'" he

DAVID KOZIER

From the 120 players in
Sicamous from Team North,
Team Okanagan, Team
Kootenay, Island | Team,

_ Lower. Mainland White . and ...

Lower Mainland Black, eight
evaluators chose 46 players to
tryout for Team B.C, based on
their performance at ihe
tournament.

Kozier is one of six players
invited off Team North,

As there is no ice, he is
doing all dryland training
seven days a week to keep in
shape for the tryouts.

He is hoping to spend the
test of the upcoming season on
the Quesnel Millionaires Jun-
ior ‘A’ team. Quesnel tryouts

- are at the end of August.

Otherwise, he plans to stay
in Terrace and play Midget for
the winter

He spent last year on the
Terrace Bantam Rep team <= ~

Kitimat player Daniel Hig-

gins and Prince Rupert players
‘Kevin Toyen are also going to
the Team B. Cc. yous: oe