B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 25, 2002 SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN Hookers ' wo years ago I took an involuntary; : wilderness float down the Clore. River. In the process I was forced to jettison my Bob Taylor custom’ wading staff and my six-weight bamboo fly rod made for me by Ron Grantham according to, John Buckstrom’s specifications. . I was happy to be alive but saddened by the loss of my metal and cane poles. The bamboo rod had caught its first steelhead that day, and was looking forward to catching many more. The maker of the metal staff had retired making a replacement questionable. The last time I almost drowned, I piloted Ed Chapplow into the grill of a 200-year-old cedar. I managed to make my way to shore in water- filled waders then grab Ed by the scruff of the neck as he floated by, thereby adding three years to his life, Unfortunately, I was unable to grab my Hardy angling bag too. Ed and ] watched it disappear around the bend, brimming with what turned out to be $500 of fishing tackle. Fortunately my friendly, helpful insurance agent, Viv Raposo, alerted me to the fact I could, for a little extra expense, purchase - coverage to compensate for the discomfort of ' lost rods and staffs, | needed no convincing of the utility of this coverage. I bought some. i The resolution of the insurance claim for my ; hardworking Peggy Hooker of The Cooperators’ ; Coquitlam’ office. Ironic, I thought, that-the, agent expediting my claim for rod, reel, staff and fly line should have the name Hooker. The cotncidence didn’t end there. I sent Peggy a copy of The Skeena River Journal as a small token of thanks for putting up with me. A few days later a fat white envelope appeared in my mailbox. I slit it open with my Buck knife and shook. Out tumbled a trio of ’ flies affixed to a six by three-inch card with a ‘ pair of polar bears ambling across an ice floe on ‘it and the words “Polar Bear Bucktail” appeared bold and black across the top. Stapled to the centre of the card was a flashy polar bear bucktail, complete with painted eyes, a Mylar body, a wing of polar bear hair and a spinner blade mounted on the front. As it turned out Peggy Hooker's father-in-law was a veteran fish hooker, Keith McColl by name, an octogenarian angling eminence living in Sicamous and operating a small business . named Outdoors Unlimited. Outdoors Unlimited, said the pamphlet enclosed in the same envelope, offers private lessons on “how to perfect the art of fly fishing and fly tying,” as well as consultation on where, when and how to fish the Shuswap area. I unfolded the pamphlet. It turned into a treasure map of the Shuswap showing all the lakes and rivers in the area and the roads to them. Next to the map was a list of the 39 important lakes with a description of the access roads, whether there are boats available at each lake, whether there are cabins, what kind of camping is possible at each one, and what species an angler is likely to encounter. On the back of the map I found some general fishing tips. “Have patience,” writes Keith McColl. “When fishing a wet pattern fly allow time for the fly to sink after the cast, Allow a full minute and then begin a very slow hand over hand retrieve with 2 to 3 second pauses every five seconds.” For beginners and river anglers, a simple instruction like this might well turn an unproductive day into a productive one, Next to the tips, McColl is kind enough to ', provide a thumbnail sketch of some useful bugs ‘along with an easily obtainable fly that will match each one. ' He devotes three or four paragraphs to chironomids, fresh water shrimp, mayflies and also includes a section on trolling baitfish patterns for rainbow and Dolly Varden char. Notably absent. from Keith’s inventory were dragons and damsels. But the pamphlet is so crammed full of useful instruction that he ‘ probably ran out of room. As il turns out, my wife, Karen, spent part of her girlhood living next to Shuswap Lake. Her “dad has returned there for his retirement years. : Naturally we visit him every summer. I'm eager to visit next summer, armed with my Keith McColl fishing map and three McColl flies, Ultimately my rod, reel and my line were .teplaced and I got a guide to angling delights in -the Shuswap in the bargain, Now that's good coverage. ‘rod and staff fell to the cooperative and |: _ TERRACE STANDARD oe me Heavy hitter | Jason Haldane is internationally known for his super sonic spikes, but he’s also taken a few hits to play volleyball for Team Canada. By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN TERRACE’S golden boy of vol- leyball is about to take centre stage in one of the world’s most prestigious international tourna- ments, Heavy hitting six-foot-nine Jason Haldane joins Canada’s na- tional team as the World Volley- ‘ball Championships get under way in Argentina Sept. 28-Oct. 13. Playing for Team Canada is a thrill for Haldane, 31, and it’s ob- vious from the tone of his voice he’s not just tceing the party line, The international tournament happens every four years alterna- ting with the other most important event in world volleyball, the Olympics. “It's such an honour to actually wear the maple leaf,” Haldane says emphatically. “I’ve done it for 10 years and it’s still an team is based, his wife Pam and children Keelan, 6, and Taya, 4, live in Terrace, Up until this year, the whole family lived with Jason when he was playing professional volley- ball overseas, Jason and Pam grew up in Ter- tace and still have family here, so when Keelan started Grade } ear- lier this month, Pam and the litie ones stayed in Terrace. “I missed my son's first day of school,” Haldane says with a bit of edge in his voice. During the day, the excitement of rigorous practice sessions and working out keeps his mind off missing his family until he gets home. “The worst part is when you're finished for the day,” Haldane says. “Sometimes it’s really hard.” “It’s just the biggest honour to be able to play for your country.” honour.” But playing the sport he loves doesn’t come without its sacri- fices. Unlike the National Hockey League where top players are making salaries most people only dream of, Canada’s most talented volleyball players are definitely not playing for the financial perks. “No one makes money here,” | Haldane says. “They, miake en- “ ough to “pay rent and bé able 'to~ eat and that’s it. “It's just the biggest honour to be able to play for your country.” Some of the players on Team Canada, like Haldane, earn a liv- ing playing for professional lea- gues around the world when the Canadians are between major tournaments such as the world championships, Rejoining the home team is something special for Haldane but there are some disadvantages to playing the sport he loves, While he’s training with Cana- da’s best in Winnipeg where the His mind might be back home in Terrace at the enc of the -’-y, but he knows he’s got the support and encouragement from Pam, who he calls his number one fan. “He works very hard,” she says of her husband. And that’s what itll take to fulfil their dream of Jason — and Team Canada - making it to the Olympics, “It’s tough becange they didn’t “qualify‘ for ‘the last two Olympics and there's: one’ more shot coming,” says Pam, “He's still got it in him to try one more time — to try to make it to the 2004 Olympics.” It's been nearly two years since Haldane - a towering middle blocker internationally known for his heavy spiking and hitting - played with Team Canada, That was in 2000 when the men’s team failed to qualify for the Olympics in Sydney, Austra- lia. He rejoined the team late last month after playing professional spikes. AUSTY BARTON PHOTO JASON HALDANE powers up to unleash one of his trademark ball for Magna Grecia, Taranto, a team in Itaiy’s elite division one volleyball league. That was fol- lowed by a two month stint play- ing with the pros in Puerto Rico. With over 355. international games to his credit, Haldane will be a leader on the Canadian team. “For me it was, you know, sec- ond nature coming back here with all these guys,” Haldane says, “There's a lot of great talent here, so it’s always fun to play at DESPITE the pouring rain, hundreds of die-hard fans showed up for the. Terrace Speedway’s annual Demolition Derby Sept. 15. A muddy, slip- pery track made for exciting racing as cars spun aut, salled off corners or got stuck in the mud, For race results see page B10. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Fall run attracting regional interest RUNNERS from around the northwest are pearing up for the upcoming All Season Source for Sports Fall Run. People have already started signing up for the 21st annual event and one of the tun’s organizers, Jack Worobey, says there’s lots of interest from throughout the region. Last year 125 people took part. "I’ve had lots of phone calls from Ha- zelton, Smithers Kitimat and Prince Rupert,” Wortobey says. Runners of all skill levels are calling about the event and Worobey says -the event is open to anyone. “There’s a group of people from Smi- thers who are just starting to run,” he says. “There’s also walkers signing up. I’ve got one lady that phoned up who really wants to walk the half marathon.” The fall run is set for Sunday, Oct. 6 and has three different courses for partici- pants to choose from. Runners and walk- ers may take part in a either a five or 10 kilometre run or a half marathon, The courses start and finish at North- west Community, College with the. half “matathon starting at 11 a.m. and the shorter races starting.at noon. a level like this.” The team, which has never placed higher than ninth at the tournament, will need all the ta- lent it can muster when it comes to taking on the likes of power- house Team Italy which has dorai- nated the international volleyball scene for the past 16 years. That includes winning the last three world championship titles in 1998, 1994 and 1990, Continued Page B10 Totem Saddle Club nabs invitational title second year running By MARTY COX THE RAIN and mud couldn’t keep the Totem Saddle Club from their appointed rounds, winning the 2002 Northwest Invitational Gymkhana for the second year in a row. This is the third win in four years for the club. Four teams participated including Northern Saddle Club from Smithers, Pleasant Vailey Horse Club from Houston, and Telegraph Trails Saddle Club from Kispiox making a total of 28 riders. Riders battled it out in ring spearing, keyhole, flag picking, pole bending, scurries and the favourite - bar- tels. Some good times were logged with Danita Petch ri- ding Shady, weaving through the poles in just 25.921 and taking the barrels for the first time this year in 18.708. In scurries the fastest time went to Dan Muller on Skip with a time of 13.332, Lyn Lavoie on Gizmo got the. fastest time in ring spearing with a time of 9.508, in key- hole with a time of 8.758, and in flag picking with a time of 9.400. Lavoie then went on to win the hi point overall award based on the fastest times of the day. Another highlight of the day came in the junior C di- vision when Terrace’s Michalla Heighington nabbed first Dan Muller Seniors Lyn Lavoie Rachel Muller Junior B Kaleigh Allea Brittany Ewald coo dualor€ Michalla Heighington Triton Team Placings 1.Totem Saddle Club 2.Pleasant Valley Horse Club 3.Telegraph Trails Saddle Club 4. Northern Saddle Club place in each of her events. Next year the event will be hosted by the Pleasant Valley Horse Club in Houston. Other hi point award winners were: Skip Totem Saddle Club Gizmo Totem Saddle Club | Skip Totem Saddle Club Sparky Telegraph Trails Saddle Club ! Totem Saddle Club Sydney Pleasant Valley Horse Ciub Terrace Houston Kispiox - —e Smithers ee |