| SKEENA ANGLER | ROB BROWN Fond memory IKE WHELPLEY has explored more fishing frontiers than any other Skeena river runner. His prowess with rod and boat are legend, his life the envy of avid outdoorsmen. "] was sitting behind a desk in the Bank of Montreal,’” says Mike, ‘‘and I realized: that in thirty years I wouldn't be physically able to do what I wanted to do.” In mid-career, Mike tendered his resignation, kissed off any thought of long term benefits and securities, bought a Zodiac and set off to ex- plore the unknown territories of the north coast. The inflatable took him to some tight, intrigu- ing corners, but Mike’s aspirations required a bigger boat. To this end he designed an _ aluminum craft capable of cutting through the cxpanses of salt waler standing between him and many appetizing coastal slreams. He christened the craft Mileed, the Tsimshian name for steelhead, and with money earned working as a fisheries technician serving far- flung native villages to pay for gas and . frocerics, he set out through mists and tides to realize his dream. I’ve spent many hours travelling and fishing with Mike. An April Fool’s Day trip in 1984 is a typical, fond memory. The day was crisp and clear and free of bugs, The wind bit inlo our faces and hands as we shot across the Skeena. _In.March and April the spring floods are still “high up the slopes. The rivers are close to the gravel, low, like the snow line, clear and cold like the air, difficult to navigate. Twice in the _ first fow miles I jumped from the boat and - walked upstream so Mike might negotiate a skinny riffle. On a tight bend before the first slide chute I stayed aboard, at the price of a shear pitt. “Go fishing,” ordered Mike as he brought the boat to the beach. I did as he rummaged through his tools and found a spare pin. Deep in the wilderness with no contact and litle likclihood of company, a small mistake can push you over the edge of comfort into despair; the failure of a small but significant part transforms an engine into an anchor. Mike is keenly aware of the thin line between safety and peril. In a few minules we were off again, picking our way through the canyon. Most of the Skecna’s lower tributaries have benign sandy reaches on their lower Hoors. This one is dif- ferent: slecp, fast and full of obstacles. Mike beached the sled again, then took out a chain saw to buck off the tip of the newly-fallen spruce that kept us from the rest of the river. The whine of the saw shattered the stillness of valley, The sound of the jet replaced that of the saw, We maved quickly to a wide, flat spot in the river: an appealing run deep enough and fast enough to give fish comfart. ‘Here,”’ Mike said. ‘Try a surface fly.’” I put up one of Harry Lemire’s greased liners and skated it over the tail of the run. After a few casts a fish boiled below the lure. After a few ‘more tzics the fish took hold. It was a fine fe- male, a surprise fish, quite possibly the first steelhead to be taken that way on this river. Mike smiled like a scientist who had just proved a questionable theory to a panel of skeptical peers. The morning mists climbed the mountains. We fished with determination and success. The earth warmed up. Camices cracked and broke free sending avalanches thundering down the slopes. By noon the valley had opened its eyes. Mike pointed out places where hurricane force winds created by large stides had torn the tops from trees, Occasionally an exceptionally large avalanche will leap across the valley leaving a dam of Ice, snow, rock and trees. On the highest banks deposits of debris marked the height of the flood waters that followed the collapse of one of those dams. Between sips of coffee we speculated on the fishery. *€A few fish and a few fi shermen,” said Mike emphatically. ‘I mean there are probably only a few hundred steelhead in this run.’ I had to agree. These cold, hard steelhead, it was obvious, had few places — small, white water pockets and a few suitable tailouts — to hide, For a palr of privileged anglers willing to widistand the rigours of finding them, there is wonderful spor, “These spring run streams are like this. There aren’t enough fish to give good fishing to a lot of fishermen. And, there are not many anglers - who are willing to put up with the cold rain and the wind to find them,’ Mike noted. The trip out is always more dangerous than the trip in. At several points I held my breath as - ‘Mike slithered throngh # tricky tum. As we ap- proached the landing a chopper whirred- by overhead. Mike looked up. “The ultimale toy,” he said longingly. WINNING MEETS is not a priority with the Blucback “swim club... ‘But. stellar performances gave them just such a victory at the. Kitimat Invitational - —_— at least-a moral one. | Coach’ Mike.” Carlyle ” eX- plained the host Marlins: offi- cially won the meet. But they did so on the strength of paints gathered in.the relay events thanks to their numerical supe- iorily —73 swimmers to Ter- race’s 31... Look at -the individual ‘per- “formances only, however, and. the Blucbacks: triumphed by a dozen points.’ ~ Kevin Andolfatto and Garth . Coxford fished one-two over- all in the Boys’ 13-14 years division while Dylan Evans and Liam Murphy duplicated among 9-10° year-olds with Thomas Demetzer adding | TERRACE STANDARD Moral victory In pool and Scth Downs (Boys 15 and_ up) were only a point short of gold while Marina Checkley was only two shy in Girls 13- 14 years. _ Other bronzes were collected by Audrey Erb, 12 and Kyle Nartz, 11, his first medal with the club. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 14, 1994 - B11 Brown went head-to-head with C. Marcinkiewicz of Prince Rupert from the gun, touching 6/10ths ahead, Downs swam a smart race, allowing Kitimat’s Daniel Anthony to go clear early, then closing steadily to take it by half a second. The Bluebacks threw down the gaunilet right from the start sweeping all the boys 400m Free events Friday night plus two of the girls races. The Bluebacks threw down the gauntlet right from the start sweeping all the boys 400m Free events Friday night plus two of the girls races. ‘There was some feally good racing,” Carlyle said. “We've not been really good at regional meets in the past, we've saved it for the provin- _Coxford and Andolfatto pro- duced another great battle in the 200m Free, Coxford taking the race and missing the pool record by orly 49/109ths of a second. And he had another near miss in the 400m Free, this time by 47/100ths. Andoalfatto, however, found the record-breaking stroke in bronze, his first medal in that — cials.’? age group. Tristan Brown (Boys 11-12) & Number one Brown and Downs provided the thrillers of the evening. the 100m Breast, slashing more than a second and a half cff the mark he set in the Sam TERRACE PEEWEES booked themselves a trip Friday night to the Northern B.C, Winter Games in Williams Lake by sweeping their best of three series against Kitimat. Above, Steven Gervals sig- nals the team’s number one status in the zone. He scored the winning goal in Terrace's 4-1 triumph in game two. This week Steven gets to celebrate again — when he turns 13 years old. Kuhar leads dynamic debut FIRST TIME out, first place. That was the dynamic debut put together by members of the Terrace Schools girls wrestling team in Hazelton. Stephanie Kuhar. set the tone, stepping up two weighi.classes to get some competition, she had the crowd riveted throughout a gruel- ing five-minute bout which Terrace gold. Tara Burkett added another in a tough match, Caroline Erickson narrowly lost out in her final while Jamie MacPherson also silvered and Jamie Striker, Kathleen Marsh and Karyn Audet collected bronze.-. .. Add an extra-boost from fourth place fin- ishers Roxanne Douglas and ‘‘Bubble’’ Sang- hera, and the Terrace squad tallied 19 points, enough to share first overall with Hazelton, The victory was all the more remarkable for the fact none of the newly formed team had been in about before and even in sparring had nat bought more. than a minute at a time. ‘Courageous’? was the way coach Dave O’Brien described: the squad’s performance, " noting almost every wrestler had -one at least one bout during the annual Warmup tourney. "Meanwhile, :the- Boys ‘were also enjoying heir share of success. - In: the Novice class Emie Mithomens marked his retum to competition after a long layoff with a gold in the 78kg division and JP Labrec- que put in a very strong performance in taking the 84kg title. JR Budden made it three gold in the heavyweight division with teammates Clint Drummond grabbing bronze and James Bohn taking fourth. In the Open category, Agit Jaswal was taken 1o overtime but.extended his undefeated stretch « by taking the 48kg title. Greg Buck silvered and Matt Kerby added bronze to the team tally. For the remainder of the team — Terrace sent 11 novices and four open category wrest- lers — the meet proved valuable experience, coach Joe Murphy said. “It was their first high school competition,” he pointed out, adding, ‘“‘we expect them all to do well as the year progresses. The remaining novices were Grade 8s Jonathan Smith and Kerry Murphy in the 45kg class plus 57kg grappler Clayton Tremblay, Grade 10 Brent Stokkeland (G0kg) and Peter Zvatora, a Grade 11 heavyweight. The novices finished third overall, only three points adrift of Prince George. As expected, the small Open. entry left Terrace no chance of placing there. SECTION C MALCOLM BAXTER 638-7283 Lindsey pool last year. Meanwhile other Bluebacks were racking up their own per- sonal records. Judy Stevenson and Kyle Nartz went 7 for 7 on personals bests while Tamara Checkley, George Joseph, Tan MacCormac and Greg Nartz posted PBs in all but. one of their races. Other highlights included Demetzer flying to a ‘AAA’ qualifying time in the 400m Free, his first and Liam Mur- phy doing the same in the 9-10 years 50m Free. Also picking up a ‘AAA’ was Evans but with a dif- ference, Aged 10 now, he turns 11 and moves up an age group in January. And in. anticipation, he broke the 11- 12 years qualifying mark, also in the 400m Free. For a rundown on Blueback top-three finishes in Kitimat, sec the Score Board on page B14. Sport Scope loose again BEST BOUT, Best Senior and a berth in the nationals —- a typical trip to the ring for loca) boxer Jocy Losier. The accasion was the provin- cial championships, held in Burnaby Dec. 2-3, the op- ponent Kal Dhillon of Queens- borough and the result, a third round victory in the Senior 1391b. division when Dhillon was disqualified, Not that the disqualification made any difference. ‘Joey had him hands down,’ said Terrace coach Jeff Dilley, Losier will head for Ed- morton next month looking for another national title. Townley close EVERY TIME _ Ron Townley’s Terrace quartet got something going, Prince Gcorge’s Bob Ursel reached into his bag of tricks. That was the story at the final of the Smithers Mer- chants’ Cashspiel. A picture perfect hit and roll in the fifth that limited Townley to a single set Ur- sel on the road to a convinc- ing 10-4 victory and the $3,000 first place money, Townley, third John Ken- nedy, second Dwayne Melanson and lead Ron Sparks took home $2,000 for their efforts. Deja vu Tr’S A NEW season, but the same old story. Skeena Jr, Girls basketball team showed roster changes haven’t blunted their power. Skecena demolished Charles Hays 61-25, then brushed aside Prince Rupert Secondary 62-30 in the teams’ first meetings of the. season. : Ski updates Shames: . Base at top... 188c¢m Base at bottom......... 135¢m Excellent conditions as of Saturday, all 18 runs open, ‘| machine groomed Backed powder. Losier on the |...