_ In Alaska and ‘the other American states with Pacific shores, Oncorhynchus Tshawyischa is the King. In some places his majesty shares the name Chinook with the dry wind that whips down the slopes of the Rockies. In Skeena te is called Spring for the season when the first of his race push their way up rivers. Spring, King, Chinook, Smiley — whatever you call him —- he is the largest and strongest of the Pacific salmon, He. swims through the dreams of sport- fishermen.) ; . The largest of the Spring Salmon is almost too large for rod and reei, but he is not too” large for rod and reel and jet boat. In Skeena this is the most common and most effective way to fish him, » During the summer months you “may watch from the Ln almon on the fl wildlife-viewing platform and parking lot overlodking the con- ‘fluence of. the Kalum, and Skeena Rivers as aluminum jet sleds jockey for hotspots. ~ When satisfied with their -moorage, the skippers anchor their: boats then their, lines and. Wait fora chinook to inhale a .. Spin 'n’ Glo. Once this happens the anchor is weighed and the _ fish is followed downstream un- til it is brought aboard with net or gaff so coup de grace can be . administered with’a miniature baseball bat or some other kind of makeshift priest. For the fisherman who wants ‘to fish chinook from his feet, there is the opportunity to cast a spoon from the banks of Skeena’s many tributaries, or to dangle some lure or 2 gob of bait in front of a spring salmon using the float fishing techni- ques favoured by steellheaders. . _ And, if you want a real challenge, you. may try the fly. Yes, that’s right, the fly. As the verteran flyfishers of this area have known. for quite some time, and the newly converted flyfishermen have recently discovered, coho will come to the fly. with pleasing regularity. Chinook represent a greater challenge, but they will move to a fly too, ; : The American. flyfishing magazines often. run articles about catching chinook in Alaska, but the -pictures il- lustrating these pieces in- ¢ variably ‘show the beaming flyfishenmen holding up soon- to-be released, chrome chinook _ against a backdrop of estuarial grass and clear rivers;, =. Clear is not the adjéctive to describe our rivers in June and July. Poorer visibility demands a larger fly than the steelhead- sized patterns touted by the Yankees. To that end Green Butt Skunks and shrimp-like- General Practitioners dressed on.enormous irons are good ‘choices for Skeena chinook. Or, you may take a leaf from the book of the salmon anglers of - weight, are very awkward ‘to Terrace Standard. Wednesday, March 21, 1990 —- Page B5 . e sport of kings Britain and dress your flies on slender tubes of vinyl, copper, brass or aluminum and armour them with a needle-sharp bait hook. a The tube fly is a crafty idea insofar as you can slide. a number of them on the line thereby creating a relatively light lure some three or four in- - ches in length. But tubes, because of their wind resistance, and large flies, because of their cast on the one-handed rods empioyed by the Alaskans. Here again we are wise to bow to Britain and purchase a two-fisted flyrod 14 to 16 feet . long for.an 11 weight line, a reel capable of carrying 400 yards of 30 pound test dacron backing, and a 40 yard double-tapered floating fly line, - The long rod, provided you master the intricacies of the spey cast, will punch. out: pro- digious lengths of line, keep your fly in the water longer than any other fishing technique save still’ fishing, throw out large flies and lengths of fast-sinking -‘flyline effortlessly and give you an amazing controt.over. the passage of the fly — the Brits call this “'river command’. O. Tshawytscha moves up the ' tiver with ‘deliberation, when you fish him he will be on the move or holding for a very short time before surging “upstream once again. Look for. him. in places that impede his progress and are amenable to thé sweep of the fly, Ba ae Oh yes, one more thing, use a pair of running shoes as. wading brogues: once hooked, the spr- ‘ing salmon will test your tackle and your toes, q _SPORTS EWS -SPORTSCOPE- Hometown heroes TERRACE — Six bantam house teams from across the northwest clashed here two weekends ago in a Terrace Minor Hockey Association | tournament. The two Terrace teams in the contest came.out on top to the delight of. the hometown crowd, claiming the gold and bronze team trophies. : _ First went to the Terrace’s Northern Motor Inn' bantam hockey players, who defeated and relegated their Hazelton counterparts to se- cond place, Third went to another Terrace team — the Avco Jets. They triumphed over the Kitimat bantams to take the bronze. Most-Sportsmanlike-Team honours went to the Houston bantams ~ who racked up only four penalties through the entire course of their four tournament games. Hoop tourney The Clarence Michiel Classics won three straight games to take first at a Grade 7 girls’ basketball tourna- ment two weekends ago. | The undefeated Classics won their first game 48-17 over Veritas, and went on to edge out host Uplands 29-24 in one game, and beat Uplands again in the final 38-30. . Teams competed in the March 10 tournament from Uplands, Veritas, Thornhill, Cassie Hall and Clarence |- Michiel, which fielded two Winter | golfing? Terrace’s Skeena Valley Open winter golf tournament was a great success for the se- cond year in a row. ‘The Feb. 27-28 tourna- ment — held again in | Guaymas, Mexico — drew 32 -entries, -- On the men's side, low gross winner was Denny | McDonald of Kamloops. “| Low net went to Smithers’ Donny Oulton, who won a | refund of the cost of the two- “week Mexican vacation. : Former Terrace resident [Debby Carruthers, now of ‘] Victoria, earned the low gross In women’s play. Kitimat's Marg Geddes. took ‘the Low net. iitichjee eee ee eS a tt ye oe ae JEFF NAGEL 638-7283 TERRACE STANDARD _ » a8 provincial champtons, seal. * ing victory on a 7-6 win over ; rep ee Ly pe Guts DR Latien Tanah ohitaLIe snialledeiceiette tiatelick. Tens Woes. Te +. ~ Stars on ice _ PERFECT PAIR Jodi Barnes.and Rob Williams will be the star attractions at Terrace ‘Cinderella’ _ Ice Carnival that gets underway next week, The two cousins from New Westminster — who have beer skating since they were 9 and 10 — have a long record of top-five performances In provin- Ringette Simply the best! - TERRACE — Terrace’s junior . ‘C’ girls ringette team returned from the provincials In Osoyoos provincial champions. ~ The mine Terrace and two Kitimat girls worked (heir way to a 3-1 record in round-robin play to qualify fora shot at the title inthe final. =|: They started the round robin losing 8-4 to Burns Lake © before getting on track, Then - they took out Vancouver . Island 7-6, got revenge on. Burns Lake 7-6 and then again ;- beat.Vancouver Island 6-5, . ‘They emerged from the final es i phan cial, national and internatiogal pairs figure skating competitions. ’ Burns Lake. Coach Merrill Myers said although the team was built around three experienced players, the provincial victory was particularly sweet for the less experienced players. ‘*It was a real (reat for them to be able to play at that level — and win at that level.’* :’ The mainly 14- and 15-year- old (eam is comprised of Ter- . Face players Dena Ferretti, Ag- ne Graham, Cathy Dlingworth, Suzi Munson, Kara Myers, | Shawna Prest, Kelly Prinz, Jacque Scriver, Lisa Smith, and: Kitimat players Alex Hanier: and Erin McHale. FN ag pr rag eae ANE a thins Woe sage Ea tat be ¥ a eilgidl ce Et! a Le RULERS OF RINGETTE this year are Terrac In the front row, are: Dena Ferrett, Anna Graham, Jac are: coach Merrill Myerrs, Alex Hamer, Shawna Prest, Badminton — zone champs TERRACE — Caledonia Senior Secondary badminton - players kept up a long-standing winning tradition by sweeping the zone playoffs in Terrace two weekends ago. Cal players bagged 23 in- dividual medals in the tourna- ment, and secured the school’s spot at the provincial cham- pionships in Kamloops next week. Caledonia has taken the zone badminton title for the last ‘seven consecutive years. Coach Robert Cooper SFU nabs TERRACE — Terrace’s Michelle Hendry led the Simon Fraser University Clan to their first ever victory in the NAIA university women's national basketball championships Fri- day night. Hendry hit for 32 points in the tournament opener in Jackson, Tennesee, to lead the Clanswomen to a historic 79-56 victory over University of Min- predicts a finish in the top-cight at this year’s provincials, Last year’s. team placed second overall — their best perfor- mance ever, Daysun Wrubel, Callie Swan, Lisa Mailloux and Mark Sauer took the top spots in ‘A’-flight, and are expected to lead the team at the provincials. Other Terrace ‘A’ flight win- ners included Krista Soules, Donnie Hill, Philip. Lukasseur, Andrea Tank; Margaret Koemer, Darren Steves and Jodie Cey. ly win nesota. The win boosted the Clan in- to the next round of the cham- pionships, extended their winn- ing streak to 14 games and add- ed to the playoff point total of Hendry. She has averaged well over 30 points per game in playoff action, falling under 3 on only one occasion, Final championship results and season wrap-up next week, Johnston named to World Cup team TERRACE — Terrace air pistol shooter Ali Johnston has been named to the Canadian national shooting team going to the World Cup championships in Los Angeles next month. _ Johnston — who remains one of the country’s top shooters —~ will compete in the air pistol event, which is her specialty. The competition takes place in ait and coach Dwaine Hornland. Missing is Erin McHale, . ~ the first week of April. . Confirmation of her seat on the team was a boost for the local shooter after a dissappoin- ting performance at the March 4-5 provincial championships in Richmond. Calling it an off- day, she said she finished se- cond there, with her scores down 10 points across the board, e's North Coast'Ravens Junior ‘C' ringette team. From left; que Scriver, Lisa Smith and Kelly Prinz. At back , Kara Myers, Kathy Illingworth, Susie Munson ER TR OR RC OR tay oe red rh Ole 80 pe) eee eet ees