SKEENA: ANGI
ROB BROWN

Soft hackles

’m at the point in my fishing career
~~ or should I say my life — when
I don’t need the distance of time to
appreciate a fine ouling. Now I
have enough memories of enough fine times to
know when I’m having an outing with the
savour of quality; the kind that one replays
when tying Mies or repairing tackle on cold,
snowy days, A trip to the Kitimat River late in
the Fall of 1994 was one of those times.
We had sun and clear sky. We had crisp air not
yet cold enough to bite into our bands. The river

~ was low and clear as the air. There were slill

desiccated salmon carcasses lying around but
the valley had been cleansed by cool winds and
the high waters that had swept through it a short
time before.

The Kitimat River has too many long walks.
Finlay had just tumed eighly. The lung he’d
damaged working underground over fifty years
before was nagging at him, so we chose to float.
I slid the rafi down the embankment a short dis-
tance above the old Crown Zellerbach Bridge,

and in a few minutes we were testing the pool

‘fc backup-the beach) \ we Sa
}.-!*Parttidgé and’ Gren,” replied Fin’ opening’

~ below it.

] was cut in front, thanks to the leader mend-
ing Fin had to do, pitching my perennial
favourite, a small, thinly-dressed Muddler Min-
now. The litle muddler is usually a favourite
pattern among Kitimat cutthroat, but it was Fin-
lay who hooked the first fish, and a second fish,
a third and a fourth.

**What’s the recipe, Fin?” | asked as I walked |)
ay tN } ‘ “ .

up a refitted lozenge tin full of them.

From then on every pool, rifle and glide had

fish for us, lots of fish, many of them big.
- The partridge and grecn is a species of fly
from the soft hackle family. That Finlay was at-
tracted to it is understandable and appropriate,
given his preference for skeletal flies and his
Scottish ancesiry.

The origin of the soft hackled style of fly
probably goes back to the dawn of sportfishing
in Mesopotamia where ihe first flyfishers
dapped fetched hooks for whatever species of
fish inhabited the Tigris and Euphrates then.
Lacking the stiff hackle bor of selective chick-

ten breeding, the Mespotamians were forced to

use the plumage of wild birds, which is soft.
The dressings given in Dame Juliana’s Boke of
St. Albans called for the soft feathers, as did the

“pattems favoured by those ‘“Compleat” anglers

Isaak Walton and Charles Cotton. Nevertheless,
it was not until the latter part of the last century
that a pair of Scotsmen named Stewart and Pritt
perfected what is probably the most versatile
trout fly there is.

The soft hackled flies are elegant proof of the
maxim that less is more. There are no tails, no

’ flashy ribbing, no wings, elegant or otherwise,

and"no tricky twists in the tying. All that is
needed is a standard-sized hook in sizes from 12

to 18, a fength of silk floss, a pinch of fur, and

the soft hackle from a partridge, chukar, grouse
or another bird with small, mottled plumage.
After the thread is altached and the floss
secured 1o the iron aft, the latter is wound for-
ward over the former, then ticd off and
trimmed. Pinch of hare, mole or muskrat (and I
do mean a pinch) is then rolled onto the thread
and wound tightly around the hook just behind
its eye. If the hook were a bug this would be its
thorax, and that’s what the dubbing hopes to
suggest. Next the soft plume is held up with its

’ darker, convex side facing the tyer so thal the

_Teft side of itcan be stripped, The feather is then

tied in by the tip, given a couple of tums, then
tied off. After the stem is trimmed, and some
glue is applied for security, the fly is done.
Normally coloured red, yellow, orange, or
green, the floss changes to a much darker, and

“more natural hue, when wet thanks to the effect

of the black thread undemealh it. The fur not
only creates a natural silhouette but keeps the

‘soft hackle from being plastered to the sides of

- the fly, This last feature is important since this

creates a surprisingly accurate impersonation of

‘ the legs of an emerging caddis fly, the ubiqui-

tous creature the sofl hackle best imitates.

In slow water the fly is dressed on a light wire
hook so that it will drift enticlngly just beneath
the surface. The light wire can also be used in
streamy water when the trout are feeding on
emergent caddis. In this case the fly is not
fished in the traditional downstream, wet fly
drift, but upstream as If it were a floating fly.
Generally, though, the soft hackle is dressed on
a 2x stout wel fly hook for use in faster flows.

The soft backled fly is a pattern for all season
but this one. Set aside some bench time on a
snowy evening and roll up two dozen sixtecns.
and fourteens in orange and green to begin with,
and be prepared for some fine limes next spring.

CLINT SHEPPARD of Cal tries to maneuver his way around a Rainmaker in Fri-
day night's game. Prince Rupert is down right awesome this year and currently
ranked number two in AA basketball. The Kermodes lost this one 78-54. They iost
Saturday’s game too, but coach Cam Mackay says he'd like to keep playing the
Rainmakers because it forces his team to improve their play.

Pool records fall at short course finals
| Three go to Stamhuis Pe

TERRACE STANDARD

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 21, 1998- BS

vince.

ked by Rupert

Cal improving but
Rupert still on top

OUCH.

A frustrated Kermodes basketball team was stomped §
twice this weekend by the number two ranked Prince ¢
Rupert Rainmakers. ,

Cal lost their first game Friday night 78-54, then lost the °
second 82-64 Saturday afternoon, ‘

The Kermades have been playing well since the Christ- '
mas break but they just couldn’t keep up with the Rain-
makers, who should maybe think of changing their name
to the Playmakers.

Prince Rupert’s stifling defence kept pushing Cal players
back on their heels, Tuc Kermedes had trouble making it
to the inside, and when they did, they were pinned down
like soldiers on the beaches at Normandy.

Meanwhile, the Rainmakers’ offence worked with clock-
work precision, making quick passes and setting up plays i
with frightening efficiency. ,

And while the Kermodes had trouble shooting from the !
outside, the Rainmakers proved they could and would hit '
shots from just about anywhere they darn well pleased. ‘

In Friday’s game the Kermodes came within nine points +
of Rupert in the third quarter, only to have the Rainmakers
stretch their lead to 20 points by the fourth. ’

Saturday’s game showed improvements by Cal, who
were once again within 10 points at halftime. But in the »
second half, Rupert forced turnovers and they pulled fur- «
ther ahead.

Cal coach Cam Mackay says the Kermodes are improv-
ing, but Rupert is simply one of the best leams in the pro-

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‘We learn so much when we play these puys,’’ le says. «
“"T'd like to keep playing them.’*

Mackay says Dave Gardner did a good job of kecping
Rainmaker all-star Justin Adams to 27 poinls Saturday. On
Friday, Adams made 37, b

Kevin Braam, Chesley Neufeld and Fraser de Walle were =
Cal's top scorers in Saturday’s game.

The Kermodes will get another chance to get their "
revenge on the Rainmakers Jan. 30 and 31 in Rupert.

“We get two more kicks at the can, so we'll sce what
happens,’’ Mackay says. :

eT or

THREE POOL records were
smashed Friday when
hundreds of swimmers in-
vaded Terrace for the North-
west Shor Course Swim
Championships.

But it didn’t take hundreds
of swimmers fo break those
records, or even three.

It took just one.

That swimmer is 14-year-
old Terrace Blueback Arend
Stamhuis and be started the
meet with three excellent
swims and ihree new pool
tecords.

Stamhuis began with a
fantastic 100m butterfly
swim, breaking the old 1992
record by two-tenths of a
second.

“T didn’t expect that one
at all,’? Stamhuis says. “I

first event of the meetI was
really pumped up.”’

Stamhuis’ next swim was
a special accomplishment
for him. He broke another
pool record -— the 400 IM
~— with a time of 5:05°00.
That broke the old record of
5:06:16, a record had been
held by his brother, John.

**My brother was a really
accomplished swimmer, so
Ive always been in his
legacy,’’ Stamhuis says. “‘It
feels good to: get thai one.
It’s mine, not just John’s
little brother’s.’”

And Stamhuis didn’t stop
there, He went on the break
the pool record in the 400
freestyle, by 3.5 seconds.

Stamhuis says he's look-
ing forward to the Provin-

RECORD BREAKER: That's Arend Stamhuis on his way to a pool record in the -

~~.

~—s-e-.

400m Freestyle. Stamhuis broke four records Friday evening.

month, but it will be a tough
competition for him. Stam-
huis turns 15 just before the
Provincials, moving him
into the competitive 15 to
17-year-old age group.

Stamhuis’ other goal this
year was to make Junior Na-
tionals, which he did at the
Richmond Racers event last
month.

Bluebacks coach Mike
Carlyle says be was im-

ly fast times of the first day "
of the Short Course‘
Championships.

The final results of the “
meet weren’t known at press '
time, but look for details in °
an upcoming Standard. ,

| guess because it was the

cial

Fighter makes Worlds b

Championships

“I just hope to make

next —finals,’’ he says.

Osei-Tutu credits local karate club
teachers for his success

HE’S HUNG up his high-tops and sub-
Stituted lay-ups and slam-dunks for round-
houses and foot-sweeps,

it’s been a whirlwind transition for Ter-
race’s Jassie Osei-Tutu, but switching from
basketball to karate really paid off.

Now he’s heading for the Karate World
Championships in March.

“I'm so excited,”” he says. ‘I’m excited just
to be at this level where I’m representing Cana-
da, | never pictured myself here, it’s totally un-
expected.”’

Osci-Tutt is known locally for his basketball
prowess at Caledonia, These days he’s attending
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario,

He still plays basketball, but a shin injury last
Season put him out of the game for a while. So
the 20-year-old psychology major turned to his
second sports passion — karate.

Osei-Tutu quickly found he had a real flair for
the martial art, progressing from an orange belt
to a brown belt in less than a year.

When the 1997-98 basketball season came
around, Osel-Tutu rejoined his old team. But the
demanding basketball schedule conflicted with
his school work.

“In the end I had to make a decision and I
chose school,”’ he says. ;

That decision gave Csei-Tutu more time to
pursue karate, for which he had developed a real
passion.

“With basketball, you travel a lot and every-
thing's done for the team — it’s easy to lose
yourself in it,” he says. ‘‘Karate is different.
You do everything for yourself and {t carries

you through, like an investment."

Osci-Tutu’s investment has resulted in some
pletty spectacular dividends. In the fall he
qualified for the Pan Am Games. Then in De-
cember, he qualified to compete in four dif-
ferent Gghting divisions at the World
Championships, March 16-22 in Orlando, Flor-
ida.

There, he’ll be competing on a team and as an

‘individual in both full-contact and points

,Kumile (sparring) events.

“F’'m excited just to be at this level
where I’m representing Canada. I
never pictured myself here, it’s totally
unexpected’’ —Jassie Osei-Tutu

And Osei-Tutu says he doesn’t think he would
be there /f it wasn’t for the training he received
in Terrace, .

“The training I got from Sen-sei (teacher)
Lagace was the best I've seen at any club, any-
where,’’ he says, ‘It was absolutely outstand-
ing. I was way ahead when I came here.”?

Although Osci-Tutu’ just started seriously
competing last summer, he’s. been winning ever
since.

“It’s been such a quick progression,” he says.
“Il feels almost like a bunch of flukes.”

It'll take more than a fluke to beat the world’s
best. But Osel-Tutu says he’s ready, although he
expects some stiff competition, especially from
cotintrles like Italy and Brazil that are known
power-houscs,

pressed with the consistent-

a
a "

WORLDS-BOUND: That's Terrace’s Jassie
Osei-Tutu who's heading for the Karate
World Championships in March.

Unfortunately, karate isn’t an Olympic event
and getting to the Olympics is one of Osei
Tutu’s dreams, He’s actually considered switch-
ing to tae kwon-do, which is an Olympic sport. ;
There’s also still a chance he could end up there
on the national basketball team.

Whatever happens, Osci-Tutu says he wants
to slick with karate and university, He says the
two go well together, since they both involve +
mental concentration and keeping focussed.

“I plan on going to med school, and ultimate-
ly into psychiatry,’’ he says, ‘‘I’d love to open a |
dojo or try out for karate movies one day, bul |
it’s lough to follow those kinds of dreams,”’