B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 22, 2006 ‘ =~”: ~tTERRACE STANDARD | 638-7283 ” “ DSSELe ANGLER _ROB BROWN *° _ Char woman ened his speech as he described how _he: and. Fred, out in-Mike’s Zodiac, hunting photo - opportunities in the valley of the Exchamsiks, came across a:spot where the river bottom was carpeted ' with Dolly Varden; black with them,’ “was: exactly - how he described it: You ‘could tell they were dollies. by the white "edges on their fins, said Mike. We didn’t have rods - with-us; it: wouldn’t have mattered anyway. ‘That - water. was so low and clear that if we'd made a cast, - they would’ ve spooked. -- That anecdote, and, I suppose, the fact that Mike * ‘ related it, triggered a recollection: of; the time he _ and I were in that same Zodiac, atop similarly glass clear water of the Gitnadoix. We’ were. returning from a sightseeing trip'to Alastair Lake. It was one of the wintery spring days we: ‘get so often in March . . _and early April, 9°. ‘We. were. bound for’ the more interesting. fast » flowing stretches of the lower river, but earlier that week, Mike had spotted some «grizzly signs -near a creek tributary | to the upper n river and wanted to . » Check it out. In that indomitable way of his, he shouldered his camera and struck off into the near impenetrable gorse, leaving me with the boat, and wondering how in the heck I would manage to run the skinny | _tiffles of the Gitnadoix if he had a nasty. encounter ‘with the bruin in question and failed to return. , The ponds of the upper Gitnadoix are. part-time _ residences for sea run cut-throat trout, but the slow- er sandy bottomed part of the river proper,appeared all but devoid of fish on our-trips there. As I waited I leaned over the pontoons and stared -at the sandy bottom. A few minutes later, I was re- warded as a large dolly cruised stealthily out from under the undercut bank’ of sphagnum and glided off, toward the far side. Soon thereafter another repeated this perfor- mance, then another and another, until it became _ evident that the Dolly Varden population in what _.we wrongly presumed to be barren habitat, was ‘considerable. What attracted those fish to’ that part of the.river, or those. Exchamsiks char to the par- | ticular glide where Fred and Mike happened upon - them, remains a mystery. In fact, much about their’ comings and goings is mysterious. It appears ‘that Dolly Varden and bull. ‘trout, like wolves in winter, are wanderers whose quest _ for sustenance during the lean times when. the salmon don’ t run, takes them far from their natal rivers. I remember a time when Mike and I fished the “headwaters of the river for steelhead and were sty- . mied, not because.our quarry wasn’t there in reason- * able numbers, but because the Dolly Varden were present in such abundance that they intercepted our . lures before the steelhead could. There was no way that river could have supported that char year round. We concluded they were on the prowl; ‘just passing through, when we met them. One thing we know unequivocally is that Dolly — Varden have a gluttonous appetite for fish and fish ~ bits. And this continues to be their undoing. In the early decades of the last century Dolly Varden unjustifiably acquired an unsavoury reputa- tion and the repugnant designation as a “trash fish.” Neither God nor Nature (choose according to ” your belief system) make trash, yet some profound- ly ignorant, well-meaning fisheries folk in Alaska observed that Dollies and their cousins ate a lot of salmon fry and eggs and were, therefore, respon- sible for declines in salmon populations. . A bounty was placed on dollies and a reward was paid to fishermen who brought in their tails. Between 1921 and 1940 six million char tails were redeemed for monetary reward. The practice would have con- ° tinued even longer had it not been for the discovery that many of those tails had once belonged to coho. This abysmal ignorance was . not ‘confined to Alaska. When I first ‘started fishing the. waters — _ around here, it was not uncommon to witness ex- ‘amples of char abuse. The plight of char was ex- acerbated by outrageously generous limits that reflected the hierarchical. attitude of fisheries man- agement of the time. Fortunately, scientists now realize that Dolly Varden coexisted with salmon for thousands of _ years and can’t be blamed for more recent man- ‘made declines in the population of salmon. Not- withstanding this new found enlightenment, the bag limits for char are still too generous. A female Dolly doesn’t spawn until between the third and sixth fall of its existence. They are ’ slow growers in the harsh environs of northern riv- ers.. They are much less abundant than previously thought and far too easily caught. Regulations should reflect this vulnerability. With few exceptions they should be released. - Won a.participation.award. © “fered to be important, rather — |; ike leaned forward i in ‘his chair, his el- - bows resting on the kitchen table. His | _ eyes widened. and enthusiasm quick- — ’ ear,” Nordstrom said. ’. during the tourney celebrated cluded two local teams, plus ae ». bits tourney March 11. “== MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO - , THE TIMBITS went “home “ smiling with their» own pieces of hardware fromthe | [age season-ending . tournament | Exaseey here earlier this month. . oy Every member of the - seven teams who competed > “I think the kids had ‘a * total blast,” said Lynn Nor- » _ dstrom, spokesperson for . Timbits- hockey. Scores. weren’t recorded . because they’re not consid- ‘the goal of Timbits hockey . |e. is for everyone to have fun..,. -while developing and im: . . proving their skills on. ‘the ~ ae _ ice. “They don’t care e whether 7 they win or lose. They. come — off the ice. grinning ear to. Everyone gets a chance to play every position: Players. who netted goals with their best arm pumping. imitation of a major league - goal scorer, something they - : practice, Nordstrom said. ' “They -are really cute,’ mo . She said. Tourney ‘ ‘participants in- — clubs from Hazelton, Prince © re ‘Rupert, Kitimat and a com- * i bined Houston/Smithers “squad. - : oni} TYSON HELGESON gets somé ‘help adjusting . his ~ socks from parent helper — Matthew Clarabut during . a.game between Terrace and Hazelton at the Tim- SESE Wes ep ne? eg 88 MS Be RET ite, Le an ke ee wake! By MARGARET SPEIRS SKIERS AND SNOWBOARDERS showed off their style at the fourth annual All Seasons ‘March I'l and 12. Grey. About 68 competitors took part in the two- day event. ‘- Smithers’ skiers “cleaned house” in the skiing category while Terrace snowboarders _ topped their category. The level of tricks seemed to level out, with a lot of competitors doing 720s and 540s, mean- make it to the next obstacle, said Grey. “Those who crashed would miss an entire ob- stacle and lose points. - Although the event strives to keep skiers and - snowboarders safe, a couple of people were in- - jured during the weekend. | During her snowboard run, Kim McIntyre caught her toe edge and slammed into the ground... ‘back injuries that turned out to be strained mus- Slopestyle Competition at Shames Mountain “Tt-went really well, ” said organizer Kristian . tion and only three female snowboarders came out this year. - oF ing those.who won had to stick every trick to: She was taken to the hospital with head and . “under men’s "Fierce competition at Slopestyle Close calls and scores highlight weekend on mountain cles in her upper back and chest. “It was a freak accident that just happened really quickly,” said Grey. ‘ For the fifth annual competition next year, Grey hopes to see: more women come out to compete. Only eight women entered the ski competi- “T think they’re kind of hard on themselves and don’t think they can win,” Grey said. In the skiing events, Smithers’ Tim Smith ~ won the men’s open with 60.5 points, followed by Garret. Alexanderelphee of Fort St.. John’ with 60 points and local Shannon Draper with 50 points. — The women’s open saw Alex Rice of Kitimat win with 44 points, followed by locals Ainsleigh Mensah with 39 points and Jenny Johnson with 24.5 points, Everett Hodson of Smithers won the men's 15 to 18-year-old category with 66 points, with locals Chase Hamilton in second with 61.5. . points and Pat Hemmons in third with 60.5 points. Ben Hodson of. Smithers won the 14-and- category with 61 points, Smithers’ ers with 53.5 points and local Colin Davis took Majeski with 48 points, second went to local — _ points. - spun 900 degrees and landed backwards. _ degree-spin that landed backwards. Luke Fokkens took second with 60.5 points and. local Luke Sable came third with 48 points. In the snowboard events, the men’s open went to local Jeff Rushton with'55.5 points, second went.to Kevin Whitecotton of Smith- third with 53 points. “ Kitimat’s Cam Yolland won the men’s 15 to 18-year-old category with 54 points, second .’ went to Taylor Cox of: Smithers with 53 points,’ and third went to local Jeff Chapman with 50.5 points.” In the boys 14-and- under category, local Lee » Miller won with 56.5 points, followed by lo- cal Jason Wafzig with 56 points and Smithers’ Mark Huisman in third with 40.5 points. : The women’s open went to local Brittany Angie Healey for her 47.5 points and third went to Prince Rupertite Natalie Eleracht with 47 The best skiing trick came from Tim Smith who completed a corked nine, which means he The best snowboarding trick was Taylor Cox of Smithers who did a cab 7, a backwards 720- Fun times on hill for young athletes Ski program. closes season with mazes, medals and munchies ANOTHER . SPEEDY, - the top ‘three placings in the first three events. : me =6gobbled down hot dogs - giant ANSONE Van Rensburg, Harold Moore and Cole Cormier, from left to right, show off . their medals and awards from the fun day to wrap up the Nancy Greene Ski League season March 5 at Shames Mountain. Moore won gold for speed and Cormier won gold in the jump event. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO successful season’ swept . into the record books for the Nancy Greene Ski League. .. After seven Sundays of practising their skills ~ on the ski hill, young ski- ers celebrated with a fun day at Shames Mountain March 5 ‘on awesome snow conditions under a _ sunny sky. © The young athletes and won oodles of prizes after partaking in four different events: the dual glalom, which is part way | between the slalom and slalom, - jumping the farthest distance on skis, notching the fastest speed and skiing through amaze. — Everyone received a participation medal and medals were awarded for Skiers were orga- nized into two categories, younger skiers and the bantams or older skiers. Dual glalom gold med- "als went to Tristan Walker -and Drew Kenmuir.. Waiker also won gold in the jump along with Cole Cormier. Shannia Steur and Har- old Moore won for speed. The Alcan Nancy. Greene Program is an an-: nual ski development pro- gram for children aged six to 11 hosted by the Shames Mountain Ski Club. Coaches set up situ- ations that teach skills through active, guided play and ensure that ath- letes ski many different types of snow conditions and terrains, which builds strong, solid racers.