_B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 19, 2005 Ww MARGARET SPEIRS | SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN | Cutts n ver the years I?ve met more than a few First Nations fishers who thought sport fishing was a quirky activity and many others’ who thought this popular feature of European culture was just downright perverse. The aboriginal sport fishers I’ve encountered are so few that I can vividly recall them all despite my increasingly porous memory. There was, for instance, the jovial fellow casting’ a fly over'the part of the Lower Patch where Karl Mauser killed his world record steelhead. . “What do you like to use?” he asked me. “Muddler,” Ireplied. He smiled a broad warm smile. “Minnow Muddler,” he said as he nodded know- ‘ingly, “that’s my: favourite fly too.” ’ . On same piece of water a Q _ outlook. The Gixsan fishing treaty proposal had just been _ quashed and he was clearly upset about it.. “You catch any?” he asked with unmasked hos- lity. sro “ a indicated that. I hadn’ t with’ a head shake.” . . “Take'a fook at what I caught,” lay. The other First Nations fisher v wasn’t out to de- ' ‘ing Who Obviously enjoyed wielding a rod. After asking how fishing had been for me, and learning that it- had been indifferent, he gleefully told me he’d had a great day on a nearby slough where he’d caught and killed 60 cutthroat trout. At this statement my eyes widened so much that my eyebrows felt as if they’d become part of my hairline. “Six-ty, as in six-zero,” I stammered as my wife shot me a look that reminded me we were guests and that risking an acrimonious debate was point- ‘less. — He nodded confirmation and added that he’d returned to the same slough the next day to catch some more. “You know how many I caught?” he asked. “None,” I-guessed. 5 “That’s right,” he said, whereupon I pointed out that this was not a big surprise since he’d probably caught the entire population the day before. “No,” he corrected me, adding that a pair of ot- ters were there and that they were responsible for ‘the poor angling. him he did he probably would have shot the otters to _restore the ecological imbalance.” In fairness, a detailed, scientific knowledge of the ecological requirements and population abun- dance of a species that was not traditionally a target nascent FN angler to have. Nor should we expect him to have a ready un- in a stylized and symbolic way, especially since so many us Second Nations folk don’t either. The unique fish of a favourite once-secret lake | shared with a handful of anglers were wiped out by some fishing families who went there and individu- ally limited out. I’ve heard of, and witnessed, similar legalized slaughter on Skeena sloughs by law- abiding fish- _ therefore. they must be numerous when the opposite =4struer ; Much mayhem can be, and is, inflicted on vul- nerable, less numerous species by a few uninformed people packing fishing rods. Since regulations don’t reflect biological reality ‘in so many cases, curbing these small but signifi- cant disasters can be achieved by education. Since all sorts of violence can be inflicted by _.dearn something of their quarry and gun handling before they are issued a license. This is done through the Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) Program, which consists of a practical firearms handling test, and a written examination on all of the following ‘subjects: outdoor ethics and game care, firearm handling, hunting regulations, the animals of Brit- ish Columbia, outdoor survival, first aid, hunter heritage, conservation and. wildlife management, among other things. A similar program should be instituted and re- quired for anyone intending to hold an angling li- cense. Doing so would go a long way to restore and preserve the health of our fish. few years later, I met "another native sports fisher with: quite a different he said through "] ‘clenched teeth as he motioned for me to look in the . ‘box of his pickup truck’ w here three large steelhead » {plete the resource to make a point. He wasafriend- } rslys ‘Bood- ‘natured fellow.1 met at an: informal gather-- “It’s a good thing he didn’t have a gun with: .” | remarked to Karen on the drive home. “If. for First Nations is not something we can expect ao derstanding of sport as recreating hunt and harvest aspiring hunters, the government requires that they fi , TERRACE STANDARD 638-7283 GOALIE BURNY CARLSEN and a second King protect the River Kings net asa Bear prepares to shoot during their Jan. 8 game in 100 Mile ‘House. . oRIVER KINGS WEBSITE PHOTO River Kings drown the Bears By MARGARET SPEIRS _ THE RIVER KINGS devoured.the Bears in their * first game against, 100 Mile House then rallied 2.» Terrace beat | 100 Mile House 6-3 “from a- three-goal deficit to finish, with, a. tic in . their second meeting. .. on Jan 8 and 9. “For us, it was s the points we, needed,” ‘coach ‘Trevor Hendry said: 2°": “All four would guarantee us a spot but: YOu" can’t be too disappointed when you take, seven out of eight points from them in a year.” The games meant a long road irip for the team, which wasn’t at its strongest, but the members “who went played their hardest, Hendry said. Despite the travel, the team arrived with enough time to'relax in the hot tub and pool be- fore their first game Saturday. Burny Carlsen minded the net in the first game and Leland Macdonald goaltended for Sunday’s game. Ryan Muldoc, Howie O’Brien, Davey Jones and Richie Rodgers scored one apiece. and tied 6-6. Laschenko shot two into the net. Ivan Laschenko had a°great first game and . played -very-well, Hendry said. ; «Darcy, Allison added four points to bring him ; to second.place in the league with 29 points. »Mario-Desjardins couldn’ t-add to his scoring game on Dec 30: - Sunday's game nearly ended with a Kings loss . With seven ‘minutes to 20 in the, third, they were down 6-3. “We just mentally broke down for a little while,” Hendry explained. “It'was 3-3 going into the third, then we just had a brain fart, I don’t know what happened, we looked the other way and all of a sudden they’re leading.” The Kings got it together and scored three to tie it up Jones and Troy Farkvam score two each and Hendry and Rodgers netted one apiece. Local player chosen for Log _ -By MARGARET SPEIRS A LOCAL BANTAM cep player scored himself a spot on a regional bantam team during the Best Ever program over the Jan7 weekend. Alex Redpath, centre and captain of the Inland Kenworth bantam rep hockey team, will play on the Northwest Under-16 bantam team during their spring tournament in Salmon Arm. “I’m very proud of Alex. He’s a good player anda great kid,” said John Amos, Terrace bantam rep coach: ° , “[ think itll be a really good experience for him.” ; Redpath and teammates Matt. Ames, right ~ wing Nathan Soucie, centre Curtis Desousa and defense Matt Marcellin were judged on their play in two practices and two games. Amos suid the players who weren't chosen said they gave it their best shot and Iearned a lot. All the players were interviewed after the try- out and given advice on any areas of play that, _ needed improvement. ~ Amos’ said all his boys were told to practice their skating. “Skating is always a big thing, “ Amos said. “Every kid needs to work on skating, Not many are perfect skaters.” Players who improve can return the next year as incredible players, Amos said. Over 50 players from the, northwest compet- ed. ho - ; Among the top 20 players chosen. from the zone were three players from Kitimat, four from - Prince Rupert, three Smithereens and five or six from Vanderhoof. “Vanderhoof’s team is really strong this year Siro for a single A team,” Amos said. The tournament was for bantam A, AA and AAA teams. Since we don’t have © any AAA teams in our area, the northwest team will find the AAA play- ers on their opposing teams challenging, Amos: said: The tryouts were the first step in a five-year process of identifying young athletes for the na- tional junior program. At the April tournament, players will also be identified for the under-!7 program. They won't be selected at that time, but scouts. will take notes on their play. “Every western hockey league team has'scouts there,” Amos said. “It’s quite amazing to watch. You look j in the crowd and there's hundreds of guys with books.” Those who play well will be invited (o try out forthe Under-17 team next year, Amos said those players not.chosen for the Under-16 team may still make it to the Under-17 team. Dan Hamhuis, ¢ a former Smithers bantam player who now plays for the Nashvilie Preda- tors, broke his leg during the Under-16 tryouts | but still qualified for the Under-17 team and Team BC. “He's a good hockey player. I hated coach- ing against him,” Amos said, adding that Ham- huis would score several times and check his best players out of the'game. Redpath and the rest of the Northwest Unz der-16 bantams take to the ice to play eight. teams from.around the province on April I4 to 17in. Salmon Arm. Pond hockey - Although the. Kings are second in the league - with 563 penalty mi tes a and Troy Kaye ranks gecGndswith 98 pe alty m nutes, Hendry, defends his team, a SO ee “We're good at penalty killing,” he said. About Kaye, he said; “Sometimes they’ re stu : as he missed the trip, still recovering from bruiséd °* pid penalties and sometimes they’ re deserved. “He © ‘ribs suffered while sliding into the boards during | - the Kitimat g doesn’t make me happy all the time but ‘he’s still ~ “one of-our main players.” Playoffs are coming up ‘fast. and “Hendry” 1S 2 confident of the Kings chances to make it. The team’s only one point behind third place: oe * Mackenzie, who already finished its season. “If we get.one_more point, we’re in because our goals are-better for and against,” he said.” “We should be able to get One more point over the next three games.” . As for the team’s inability to beat Kitimat, their record is 0- 3, Hendry thinks with the help of the 200 or so Kings fans who travel to Tamitik arena to cheer them on, they ought to be able to beat the Demons to end their regular season this Saturday. U-16 team ALEX REDPATH, seen here during a bantam rep hockey game in’ December in Terrace, was chosen for the Northwest under-16 ban- tam hockey team earlier this month. _ MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO Some energetic men took advantage of the freezing weather to play the na- tion’s favourite game on Braun’s Island slough over the Jan 8 weekend. JENNIFER LANG PHOTO