BB - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 28, 1999

CHRISTIANA WIENS) |

SKEENA ANGLER ©.
ROB BROWN

Hand-tied

he old-fashioned hardware store, the

kind that flourished in a time when

nothing of quality was made of plastic,

and before chain stores and malls lit-

tered the landscape, were wondrous.
The old-time hardware store had the aroma of a ga-
rage and a woodshed combined; it was clean but it
didn’t bave the operating théatre kind of neatness
the new hardware emporia have. The floors of old
hardware stores were made of wood that creaked;
they bad some five and dime genes; they were
places of magic for boys of all sizes.

The first honest-to-goodness flies I saw were
crammed into the small cedar bins of a display box
sitting on one of many cluttered shelves in one of
the cluttered aisies of a cluttered Ma and Pa
hardware store that no longer stands at the corner of '
Sperling and Hastings in North Burnaby. ‘‘Genuine
Hand Tied Flies’’ proclaimed a hand-writien sign
suspended above the swarm.

Although some kind of machinery is necessary to
tie a fly, as far as [ know, no machine can make
one, No tier ’ve heard of has tied a fly with his or
her feet, which makes tying a fly pretty much a
hands-on craft. But, such little inconsistencies are
of no moment to 10-year-old, I was impressed. I
was impressed alsa by the size of these fuzzy little
hooks. The price was probably under a quarter, but
I'd exhausted my allowance on some skookum line
and a tin box of Mustad hooks, besides, I knew,
enough to know there was some special way 1o fish
flies, and that I didn’t have an inkling what it was.

My fascination with flies increased when I dis-
covered the crisp drawings of fly patterns on the
back of the Sportsman cigarette packages. I scoured
the gullies and roadsides for the Royal Coachmen,
Greenwell's Glories, McGintys, and other patterns
that I found next to bottles, other ditch riches and
the slimy trails of slugs.

Years later, I was in Harkley & Heywood, the
once famous sporting goods shop kiddy corner to
the once famous department store, Woodward’s.
Behind a counter near the front window was a
woman tying fies by hand. Her name was Mary.
She spoke with a Scotch accent, and using only a

Busy season planned ~
for Skeena Valley club

STANDING ON ihe grounds of the
Skeena Valley Golf and Country Club
in Thornhill, golfers marvel at the nat-
ural setting that surrounds them.

To the east, is the breath-taking rock
face of Copper Mountain, to the west
lies a view in the distance of snow-
capped Sleeping Beauty, and to the

‘north golfers get a glimpse of the

Skeena River Valley.

The member-owned club, which
opened its doors for the scason last
week, already has a function, scram-
ble or tourmament scheduied every
weekend this summer,

The highlights of the season include
the mens, ladies and juniors open
tournaments in July.

But there’s also the annual charity
compelitions for the heart and stroke,
multiple sclerosis, and Big Brothers
and Big Sisters which have staff
members busily preparing for the
year.

The golf course, has lost members
over time to the 18-hole Hirsch Creek
club in Kilimat, said manager Bruce
Carruthers. ,

That’s part of the reason the club is
expanding to 18 holes.

“Golf is 18 holes,’? said Carmthers.

Seven of the club’s ‘back nine” sit
in various stages of construction south
of the recently expanded club house
and pro shop.

Only hole 12 sits green and ready to
play among six other holes that need
either capping, irrigation or seed.

The southside should be green by
July,” said Carruthers.

The driving range — also under
construction — has been moved to the
far right edge of the southside,

__ The new long and skinny'range will
“sit elevated on a raised edge of
boviders from Copper Mountain. The
club plans to net off the range to keep
wayward balls off the course,

Until it’s finished golfers, will use a
warm-up net.

Returning players may have to
watch for signs as a few northeast
holes are still under construction.

Carruthers along with the greens and
construction superintendent are
“building it right’ taking into ac-
count drainage and traffic patterns.

He said club members and sponsors

as SS

TESTING THE IRONS: Bruce

e Carr

Pc:

uthers drops a putt before opening

day mayhem at the Skeena Valley Golf and Country Club April 19.

Wednesdays: Mens night

Golf Calendar

Thursdays: Womens night, $10 drop-in available

638-7283.

Sports
Menu

Wednesday, April 28 :
Skeena Valley Golf
and Country Club first
official men’s hight for:
golf club members, 12
noon start. t

Thursday, April 29
Terrace Junior Tennis
Club first meeting at'
the Halliwell tennis
courts. The club will
meet Mondays and
Thursdays at the court
unt June 17. Gall Gill
at 635-7613.

Skeena Valley Golf
and Country Club first
official ladies night for
members and the pub-
lic, $10 drop-in avail-
able, 12 noon start.

Tuesday, May 4
Skeena Valley Golf
and Country Club first
official juniors night.

Friday, May 7 Kitimat
Cross Country Ski
Club annual general
meeting at the Mount
Layton Hot Springs, 7
p.m, start.

Saturday, May 8 High
School and junior
zone championships
at the Skeena Valley
Golf and Country
Club,

Saturday and Sun-
day, May 8&9 Nine
ball tournament at
Chalky’s Billiards.
Tournament starts
Saturday at 12 noon,
Final game scheduled
for 3 p.m. Sunday.

Sunday and Monday,
May 23-24 Redsand'‘
Mountain Bike Festivat
at Redsand Lake.
Mountain bike trials
and cross-country

races, Call McBike at
635-5225 far more in-

Skeena Valley Open: Mens’ Tournament July 2-4

have been generous with their time, Ladies Tournament July 9-11

pair of scissors she rolled up flies with the dexterity
money and equipment donating every-

of a violinist and the speed of a hobo rolling a

After slapping together some really crude
specimens that caught fish because there happened
to be a lot of fish where I was fishing, I sought out
Roy Chapplow, who taught me the fundamentals of
the craft. I was off and wrapping, spending hours at
the vice wrestling with hanks of chenille and bits of
tinsel.

The flies got better. A few tying manvals ap-
peared, Fly fishing magazines gave recipes for pat-

terns accompanied by pictures, but my skills did not
improve dramatically until I read Fly Tying by
Helen Shaw. Instead of listing pattern after paticrn,
Ms. Shaw took the sensible approach of devoting a
chapter to each important technique with large,
clear back and white photographs of each move,
After the basic techniques, the book devoted a
chapter on how to construct bodies of wool, floss,
tinsel and dubbing, how to erect wings, how mount
tails and how deal with hackle, and so on.

The Fly Tiers Bench side Reference to T echniques
and Dressing Styles is Helen Shaw’s book wit
large. A lot of new moves have been added to the
fly tiexs’ repertoire, and I’d be mightily surprised if
.Ted Leeson and Jim Scholmeyer have missed any
‘of them, Using the Shaw approach, and a generous
number of colour illustrations, the authors cover the
use of new materials like foam and beads, and old
materials like quills and macaw hors, and they do
it with detail and clarity,

Dave Etkin’s, the proprietor of Fish Tales Tackle
and the most generous right-wing curmudgeon 1
know, gave me the book in payment for teaching a
fly-tying course. One of the most frustrating things
I’ve bad to deal with in dressings past is the mount-
ing of streamer wings, which is ironic considering
the fly I was given to tie for the Canada Post Scrics
last year has streamer wings of badger hackle, As
soon as I got home with my hardbound copy, I
niffled through the pages to the section on streamer
wings. After one reading I sat down and, using
three of the authors’ simple suggestions, built the
easiest and best Coho Blue I've tied to date.

The Fly Tiers Bench side Reference to Techniques
and Dressing Styles isn’t the kind of bock you read
from cover to cover; it’s a dictionary of techniques
more than 400 pages long. It costs 150 Canuck
bucks, about the same as amount of a cheap
graphite rod, Whether you want to leam how to roll,
your own bugs, refine your technique or find out,
how do anything else with fur and feather, you
must have thisbook. =:

cigarette, thing from building supplies to teac- Junior Tournament July 15-16 formation.
Despite this impressive performance I wasn’t} tors. a
motivated to try and tie a fly until 10 years later. Saturday, May 2

KEEPER PRACTICE: |
Kelly Haugland stops the
ball at Caledonia’s senior
girls soccer team practice
last Wednesday, ‘The girls
were practicing for a play
day here last weekend.

Skiers win big in Smithers

THE SHAMES Monntain Alpine Ski
Team ended their season in style at
the Merrill Lynch Northern Zone
Team Championships April 15-18 at
Hudson Bay Mountain in Smithers,

Mathieu Leclerc won two silver
medals in the Super Giant Slalom and
a gold in the combined Giant Slalom
race,

Aaron Gingles, another J2 skier,
placed sixth in the super giant slalom,
third in the giant slalom and fourth
overall when the two runs were com-
bined,

In the women’s J3 event for girls 11

to 13 years old, Shannon Kelly placed
fourth in her first run of the super
giant slalom and first in her second
race. She also won silver in the glant
slalom and finished second overall,
Leah Leclerc finished fifth and third
in the super giant slalom races, sixth
in the giant slalom and fourth overall,
Stacey Blake finished fifth overall.
Men’s J3 skiers, Courtland
Sandover-Sly, Ben Peters, Ryan
Monsees and Michael Butler finished

sixth, ninth and seventh overall.
Sandover-Sly’s best race was fourth in
the first super giant slalom event at
1:26:14.

And Ben Joinson — a skier who
competed with the Kitsumkalum team
in Terrace from 1980 to 1986 —
skied on the Shames masters team and
won a gold medal. Johnson makes
regular visils to Shames to train and
race with the team.

Team organizers say 1999 was a
great ycar for the team with both

Aaron Gingles and Mat Leclerc com- |

pelting at the provincial races in
Vernon.

Leclerc also travelled to Jasper for
the Western Canadian Juvenile
Championships at Matmot Basin.

And all racers came home with
medals or ribbons from various events
throughout the year.

“Jane Edgett and head coach
Andrew Rushton delivered a program
that has developed our young athletes
into a very respectable racing team,”’
said parent Roger Leclerc,

Super giant slaiom results
(two races each)

Women’s J3 (ages 11-13)
Shannon Kelly 1:22.71, 4th
1:27.46, gold
Leah Leclere 1:26.87, 5th
1:36.31, 3rd
Stacey Blake DNF
dis qualified
Men’s J3 (ages 11-13)
C. Sandover-Sly 1:26.14, 4th
1:41.92, 14th
Ryan Monsees 1:33.52, 12th
1:32.79, 7th
Michael Butler 1:34,29, 13th
1:34.48, 10th
Ben Peters 1:36.36, 14th
1:34.34, 9th
Men’s JZ (ages 13-18)
Mathieu Leclerc 1:11.57, silver
; 1:14,67, silver
Aaron Gingles _ 1:20.00, 6th
1:23.61, 6th

Golf Tournament.

playdowns for darts at
the legion hall, Call
the legion for more in-
formation.

Sunday, May 30
Action Off-Road Chai-
lenge in Kitimat.
Mountain bike and
‘cross-country races in
Kitimat.

Kermodei Classic 5 or
10 k road race, 11
a.m. start at the Coast
Inn of the West, Call
Jack at 638-0751 for
more information.

Friday to Sunday,
July 2 to 4, Skeena
Valley Open Men's
Golf Tournament.

Friday to Sunday,
duly 9 to 11 Skeena
Valley Open Women's
Golf Tournament.

Friday to Saturday,
July 15 to 16 Skeena
Valley Open Junior's

Sunday, July 18
McBike Cross Country
race at the Spring
Creek watershed in
Terrace. Mountain
Bike and Cross coun-
try races. Call McBike
at 635-5225 for more
information.

To get your game,
event or meeting
added to the Terrace
Standard Sports
Menu, fax us at 638-
8432, atin: Sports
menu,