Meade ao

HEN the angling world -
iost Charles Brooks a-few
years ago, it lost “an
original thinker.

Fortunately Brooks left a number of
original books that will be of immense
benefit to future generations of fly
fishermen,

Enlisting in the U.S. Air Force turned
out to be an excellent career choice for
Brooks because he had the good. for-
tune to be stationed in Alaska where he
almost overdosed on the abundant an-
gling opportunities.

It also. enabled him to take early
retirement, ‘setiling in West Yellow-
stone, Montana, within casting distance
of the best fly fishing in the contiguous
48 states. .

The underwater forms of aquatic in-
sects, their. pupal and larval stages,
comprise the bulk of trout diets.

An eminently practical man, Brooks
decided to.devote the rest of his life to
the study of nymphs and ways to im-
itate them successfully with a fly rod.

To this end, he denned scuba gear to

_ examine trout in their own world. He
spent years collecting and classifying
nymph samples indigenous to streams
-near his home while studying scientific
papers and angling literature for hints
‘on how.to fish the nymph.

It did not take long for Brooks to dis-
cover that not much had been written
about: nymph fishing. Moreover, the
little bit that had been penned had little

- application in the New World.

For example, the father of nymph
. fishing, | G.E.M. Skues, wrote about
as. the. gently flowing chalk
'- streams of England.

’ Skues’ pioneer work was simply not-

suitable for most of the rugged rivers
of westem North America. ,
_ When he en untered a s}im volume
“ghia THE ARE of “Tying ‘the Wet Fly
~ -by ‘his .countryman Jim Teisenting,
Brooks began to get-a grasp on the

‘complex art of fishing the nymph.

Almost every new fly fisherman
-bumps into the name Leisenring. very
shortly after getting involved with the
sport when he reads about a technique
called the Leisenring Lift.

- Brooks is quick to point out the Lift
vis a difficult technique indeed, Leisenr-
“ing, says Brooks, fished only to fish he
could see or whose underwater posi-
tion was known to him.

He would study the location of his.
prey, the currents, the wind and any

: other factors which might affect his

cast, then delermine the best position
. to-make his cast. :

Leisenring knew what nymphs dwelt
in the piece of water he was fishing.
He chose his fly accordingly, then cast
so the currents could take it down in an
exact line with the fish, .

“When the fly reached the desired

“spot, Leisenring would tighten the line .
‘and -bring the rod overhead with a
_smooth lift, mimicking a nymph rising

~_ to the surface.

Brooks mastered the technique and
found it‘close to 100 per cent effective
when conditions permitted its use.

The gentler streams of Pennsylvania
were Jim- Leisenring’s beat.. Brooks

. Was still confronted with the problem
iof discovering a consistent method of
drawing .big, fat Montana trout, from
> their: Jairsat. ihe bottom. of rushing,
~ rock-filléd rivers,

After yeats:of refinement he accom-
- plished just that.

The biggest insect. in and around
Montana streams is also found here.

. The giant stone fly, or willow fly -
_. pteronarcys., californicus to
entomologists, -- is a full four inches |
long in many cases in both its larval —
~ and adult forms... -

- 'The'-larvae of pteronareys are
hideous’ creatures with two tails and a
hard exoskeleton. mo

‘Brooks’ imitation Is made of black .
| (Fuzzy. wool with two hackles, one

“ amidships and one at-ihe head of the »
, hook lo suggest gills. : ;

The pattern is tied on a big hook and
-is given lots of ballast to sink it down .
ae the bottom where the natural lives.

-In fact, Brooks’ Stone is so heavy it
“must be lobbed rather than cast 8 short
“distance upstream, then allowed to roll
“back to the bottom.

In Nymph Fishing for Larger qi rout, .
“Chartes Brooks: describes ‘how .to fish
the Stone in detail, along with, ex-
cellent-descriptions of ‘other. nymphing
_ tedhnigues and colourful anecdoles.;

IE you want to. wreatle big trout, give
-Mtareed.

eared 3

International

- beam, adding a ninth on the floor exe |

put in a. remarkable ‘performance:-to...."
‘vinces’ where she-matched her gonl
1 finish with a’ninth over-

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 12, 1993 - Page C1

BATTER UP, PLAY BALL!

EVE ON THE BALL. B.C. Youth Umpire of the Year Gary Peden (inset) donned his
protective gear last week to work the first game of Minor Baseball's naw season. He

has been a carded ump for four years.

he GUSTS .:

Six years after calling his first
strike, local minor baseball pro-
duct Gary Peden, 18, is a s

._ Young Umpire of the Year.

the 1992 season and-made at last Av.
Men’s Western Canadian
Finals in Prince George. .
However, Minor Baseball: ‘decided to
“hig achievernent’ deserved spécial

~ Tecognition in “front of the local
crowd. : :

. So, last weck’s launch to the 1993

"~ geason’saw president Jim. Fick. hand-
ing over the plaque again to (he ap-
we plause of ‘the. season's ‘opening, night
: _ crowd, -

“And, having thrown out the first ball
of the scason, Peden. then stepped be-
“hind the’ plate. io call) the “Bambino
division game between Don Hull’ and
Far-Ko. vee

Peden said ‘he’s been ‘a: carded ump
for four ycars now, having started his
stint behind the plate a couple of years
earlier.

At -the same time, he continued (o
move up through the: playing ranks,
finishing with the Senior Babe. Ruth
division last-season. °) 22.”

Asked why a player ” ‘turns -
umping, Peden smiled, “I'm a verkan:
who likes control, and out there that’s
what. have, control: mo : :

- Although he’s called. the ‘strikes: for’
different age groups, he . not -sur-
prisingly prefers the older age groups
like Babe--Ruth where the- action’ s:°
fasler and more intensc. «~

And dealing with players in same : of ;
those diamond duels can, he” admits,
he ‘‘exciling’’. .

Like all members “of” lhe BC
Umpires Association, Peden is tested
and rated cach year. 2 |... :

At the moment he’s a Level 2 ump
but this summer will be. tested’ at ei-
ther a regional or provincial play-off.

The end result of that will likely be
clevalion lo Level 3, the highest at-
tainable in provincial ball.

After that, the only two levels left
for him are national and internalional. -

Kkhkkk

With minor baseball. now in full

swing, the. crack of the’ bat.can be

‘week al the Rotary Park, Elks Park -
and Cassie Hall school diamonds.

That level of usage is a must with
close to 500 boys and girls signed up
for this season.

Minor Baseball. president Tim Fick
Says everyone’s welcome to come oul

and enjoy watching a game.

Coxford grabs gong on the fly

No question, Garth Coxford was
really “flying at ihe Edmonton
Invitational’ swim
meet. aoa

Although just out of the medals. in the

100m Butlerfly, Coxford put. in. the ~~

fastest 50m split time. in the Boys 1-12.
years division. id

That cared: him a beri on ihe B. Cc
medley relay team, a quartet that, carved: -
their way to a bronze medal. ”

pointed out the 12-year-old had dropped :
a'sccond off his best ever time in: his
100m Fly. heat and then Sliced another
second off in the final.

Describing the performance as cx-
cellent considering the Blucbacks. have

GYMNASTICS

Peaks v

It was the best ever result north-
wesiem gymnasts have ever
achieved and Terrace Peaks were a-
big part of that milestone.

Six. Terrace gymnasts and seven

Smithers Sallos did Zone. 7. proud at

the Provincial ‘B’ championships.”
Trina Mateus beat out 30 op-
ponents to bring the Peaks and zone.
14-years-over contingent a gold; her-
floor show ‘drawing a 9.0 from the :
judges, eo
A seventh on the beam and eighth
on vault earned her fourth’in ihe

of a bronze medal.
Bronze also eluded ‘Leah’ Graham:
and she had to settle for fourth‘on the .

ercises and a ninth overall. .. ba
‘The zone also got a lift from: Salto
Jane Hofweber who grabbed fifth on
ihe beam. - >
The zone Tyro team (13 14 years)

collect-a silver medal thanks to some
fine Salto-efforts. =.
Megan Hors ‘was a double: gold:o

only just entered their long course sea-
son, Carlyle predicted Coxford’s time of
114.81 “thal’s really moving” -

* would be among the 20 fastestin Canada.

for his age group.

this year’s short course. standings. .

~. Coxford also swam to a- seventh i in. his :
50m. Free final and won the consolation
"Fly al 200m, eS .
“.Blueback ‘colours’ were also carried at

Te a :
race Blueback coach Mike Carlyle : the Edmonton: meet by: Chris. Kerman,

11, and older brother Jamie, 13:-
, Pleased with. the ‘strong swims put in

long course experience.”
Chis. is focusing.o on'h

“floor and: beam, then added silver on

the vault to sew up the overall gold.
Teammate Lori Saffel came in

fourth overall and the Salto attack

‘was rounded out by Erin Davis’ sixth —

on the beam.
The: Peaks carried the northwest i in

‘the Argo division (11-12 years) with

Kelly Julseth ‘scoring an 8.7 on bars

‘for 12th and.Corisa Berlin's 8.1 carn-

ing her 15th of the'44' competitors.
And Eva: Mateus’-8,25 on. the floor
lifted her to the lop zone 1 Argo point

total, :
overall rankings, just 0s points : short |

championship. represented a. breuk-
ihrough, .making - them, competitive

For “the ‘northern “gone, the

with the southemers for the first time

din many years...

An example of that change is s Salto
Star. sesslca’ ‘Brown. | ‘She: collected a
silver, “the Provincial’ ‘A’

7 championships carlicr this spting lo

cam a berth onthe B.C. team.
That took-her, to: the: Western Pro-

of a lop:
all despite a,fall on the bars.

That would be, al least'a dozen places

contingent at
~-higher than’ the Tanking: ‘he, achieved in’

ilting. qualifying e

limes for Juiy’s ‘AAA’ age group
provinciais in Vancouver while Jamie
has his sights set on a trip to: Victoria
next month for the ‘AA’ championship.
Aimee Peacock filled out the Terrace.
the meet, picking up
seventh place finishes in the. consolation
finals of both the 100m and 200m Breast -
stroke events for Senior Girls. a
Although the. Kdmonton gathering was
“Sa high level competition’® and included ~

Aeams: from the United States and

_ Hungary, Carlyle said limes were gener-

(-cally-not exciting, “Hl was a A preity slow
meet in general. an

by both, Carlyle, noted neither had. much :

perros

“This: is. a season Tristan Brown. is un-

likely | to forget a and: one: that has just gol

“beller the longer it’s gone on.

According to the recently released na-
tional short course best times list, the 10-
», year-old is ranked 191h in Canada for his
age group in the 100m ’Fly, the highest
ranking achieved by a Blueback Ihis s¢ sea-
son.

~ Recalling Brown had hit only’ three -

‘AAA’ qualifying times by March, coach:
Carlyle pointed out he had since booked
a. berth. in, four. more Provincial

_-championship eveiils,

Also achieving national rankings over -

the short course were: ‘Audrey Erb, 22nd:
--in the 100m Breast: for 9-10 ‘year-old’
~ girls and Garth Coxford, 27th in the 400

Individual Medley and 32nd: in the: 100m’

oye for 11- 12 year Boys.

ault zone to new heights

su

STRONG PERFORMANCES from Peaks Gymnastics club members helped
the narthwest zone achieve Its best Provincial 'B’ championship showing ever.

They were (back row, leit to right) Corisa Berlin, Leah Graham, Trina Mateus
sand @ (front row) Shannon Chalupiak, Kel dulseth and Eva Mateus,

‘heard virtually every" night ofthe? 9-851