SKEENA ANGLER
ROB BROWN

Windcutters
and Accelerators

ouble-tapered floaters are the least

expensive, most versatile fly lines

on the market. Like all great inven-

tious, the double-tapered fly line,

with short tapered sections on both
ends connected by a long belly of fat level line,
is simple and brilliant. When you consider its
use in context it’s easy to see why,

Most river fish are hooked close to the near
bank. There are number of reasons for this. Cur-
Tents are gentler near Shore, therefore migrating
fish travel in them to conserve energy. Non-
migratory fish, and fish that spend their lives
making relatively short forays inland then return
to the estuary — sea trout and char, for example
— do most of their hunting near the edges of
streams because that is where aquatic insects,
minnows aud salmon juveniles are found.

Fishing close to shore requires ‘shorter casts.
Anglers fishing there exert more control over
their flies and leave less to chance. Finally,
water near shore is shallower. When getting the
fly down to the level of the fish is necessary be-

' cause of, say, lower water temperatures, it is
easy do so by simply changing to a heavier or
more sparsely dressed one.

For the last week I had the privilege of fishing
with Art Lingren, who is as fine a river angler
as there is. Art goes right to the high percentage
water, and begins covering it with a minimum
amount of energy. Except for the time it takes to

' execute quick precise casts, Art’s fly is in the

’ water. He moves quickly, devoting almost all
his attention to the water a 10 to 40 foot cast in
front of him. Art can and will make a long cast,
but they are rare, For this kind of work the
double-tapered line is perfect since one can
make a delicate presentation within that critical
zone using the tapered part of the line and a bit
of the heavier belly. At 40 to 60 feet there is
more belly outside the guides to facilitate the
longer cast.

Recently a series of new custom fly lines ap-
peared. Designed by Jim Vincent, built in

Idaho, then marketed under the name RIO, the.

new radiant chartreuse lines come in two major
types: the Windcutter, and the Accelerator. The
first has 96 feet of shooting line, 22 feet of bel-
ly, 15 feet of taper, nine feet of lighter level line
followed by two tips of six feet and one foot,
respectively. The second has 70 feet of shooting
Hine, six feet of back taper, a 42-foot belly a 15-
foot tip, a five-foot hybrid tip, a chunk of line
made up of nine feet of belly and six feet of
taper and a one foot level tip.
As you can see these are very complex, com-
pound tapers. Though experience has made me
-wary of All Star fishing pros like Jim Vincent
and Jim Teeny, and though I’m a confirmed
reductionist, and devout adherent to the princi-
ples less is more, and unbroken things need no
mending, I succumbed to the lure of novelty
and bought an Accelerator line,
Affer prying open its plastic sarcophagus, I
fread through the promotional bumpff and short
booklet on fishing two fisted rods inside. The

booklet is a dud with just enough hazy informa- ,

tion to confuse a beginning spey caster and not
enough in key areas to set him or her on the
right track.

After spooling the line on my reel, I called up
Bruce Hill, who had recently mounted a Wind-
cutter on his outfit. Together we drove up to the
Copper River to give the new ‘improved’ lines a
try.

What a disaster! A pood spey cast should un-
furl over the water in a tight loop in the same
way a good overhead cast does. After a while I
was able to do this with my Accelerator, but it
was difficult. The line was unforgiving and
awkward; the belly tended to flop on the water
whereupon the tips would flip forward in an un-
gainly manner. When fished in close (where
most of the fishing is, you'll recall) the two
large braided loops with which the tips are
fastened, rattled crudely through the guides
presaging some lost fish in the winter. When I
removed one of the tips, then cut the second in
haif, the $200 (including taxes) Accelerator
worked almost as well as my $40 donble
tapered floater.

Bruce’s Windcutter proved idcal for shooting
lots of line. If your goal is to throw great dis-
tances using hybrid roll casts, then watch the fat

end of your line whip through the current out of

your control, then this is the line for you:

I told Art of my experiences with the new
spey lines. He'd recently tied them on a
friend’s rod, “It’s hard te beat the old double.

taper,” ‘said Art. Hard indeed. In fact, it may be |
impossible to improve on this excellent, old-litie :

design.

638-7283

Badminton beats all

IT MAY not have the fame
or popularity of hockey or
tennis but badminton is bet-
ter for you.

When comparing profes-
sional badminton and tennis
matches, singles badminton
players covered twice as
much distance on the court
and hit almost twice as
many shots.

But that comes as no sur-
prise to a lot of people here
who sweating up Thornhill
Junior Secondary’s gym
Tuesdays and Thursdays
who know it’s all about a
person's speed, stamina and
reflexes,

Terrace boasts the most
active adult badmintion club
in the area - bringing in be-
tween 150 and 200 people
per year,

Prince Rupert and then
Smithers clubs come in a
close second and third.

Terrace’s club treasurer,
Diane Cey says in peak sca-
son — when tennis and out-
door sports don’t steal
player's time — the club
usually lures up to 35
players per night which
packs the gym and allows
players to rotate on and off
the court.

When the weather’s nice
though, the club’s  at-
tendance draps to 20 people,

And because it’s drop in,
that’s fine with Cey because
she wants the sport to fit
everyone’s schedules.

“Some people just come a
few times with friends to
have fun,”’ she said. “And
then we have the real regu-
lars.””

“This is not a team
sport, you come for
what suits you,”’

Cey herself has been play-
ing badminton with the club
for 15-20 years. Her hus-

band Chuck travels to na-
tional competitions.

The Cey’s, along with
club president Norm Perry,
and zone badminton repre-
sentative. Melodie Julseth
make up the club’s nucleus.

But there are plenty of
others like Dan Toumi who
lives in Smithers but plays
badminton with the Terrace
club whenever his work
brings him here.

“I come because it’s a
good form of exercise, you
get to do something dif-
ferent and it’s a relatively
cheap sport,” he said be-
tween games last Thursday
night. .

Julseth said the costs
amount to a plastic bird —
which lasts longer than the
feathered kind, gym clothes
and a racquet.

Even more, Juseth said
badminton is an all-ages
sport.

“Even my two-year-old
can swing a racquet,’? she
said,

The Terrace club’s oldest
players are about 60 or 70
said Cey.

“T'm the oldest fart here,’’
said 69-year old Ernie Gipps
laughing.

Terrace’s youngest players.
are teens — able to play in
the adult league only be-
cause they’ve been
sponsored by high-school
teachers or coaches.

Julseth stressed that bad-
minton is a lifetime sport.

Many players started in.

elementary or high school
and decided to return to the
game as adults,

And internationally, bad-
minton is second only to
soccer in popularity.

“It's huge in Asia,’” said
Cey.

But she stressed, the club
likes to keep things individ-
ual. There’s no pressure to
come oui, she said.

“This is not a team sport,
you come for what suits
you.”

And even though tennis is
better for you than either

tennis or volleyball — Cey —

says she sees all shapes and

“sizes of people come out

and enjoy the game.

For those who want to try
their luck in the Northern
B.C. Winter Games in
Prince Rupert, the club will
host a tryout toumament in
mid-November.

gs HOCKEY ROCKS!

GOT ITI:

Brian Van Dyk stops reams of practice

shots at an adams division (10-17 year-olds) minor
hockey practices at the arena Saturday morning.
The practice was meant to be a game between
Kitimat and Terrace, but Kitimat cancelled at the last
minute. Terrace Minor Hockey registered almost 400
youth here for the winter season and regular play
started Sept. 28. The first minor hockey tournament
here will be Dec, 4-6 when the peewee house league.
tallies against its other teams

QUICK MOVES: That's one of the badminton adult league's youngest players,
Roy Hernes swinging away at the the birdie, Hernes is a sponsored player who is
able to play in the leaque because he's been recommended by a coach or
spansor. He's the youngest of three brathers who play badminton at Thornhill
Junior Secondary two nights a week,

Skiers
wanted

IF YOU'RE interested in
helping others while you hit
the slopes this winter, the
Shames Mountain Ski Patrol
is for you.

But you don’t have to be
good to help out.

“Solid not fancy. skiers
will do,’’ said Barry Peters,

‘who organizes the Terrace

division of volunteer patrol-
lers whe join a Prince
Rupert contingent to help
skiers on the hill.

Every year, Peters sets up

| an information session (held

last Monday) and then sets

-up fiyst aid classes for

volunteers. The course runs
two times a week for three
hours. It starts early to mid-
October and finishes two
months later,

The total cost: $150 in-
cluding first aid lessons and
a supply pouch.

Once the hill opens on
Dec. 3, Peters expects the
volunteers to make them-
selves available every third
weekend,

But there is a reward — a
free scason’s pass to ski
your heart out this winter,

Peters say the most acci-
dents on the hill consist of
broken legs and twisted
knees. The worst he’s every

seen in 10 years of skiing at: §

Shames is when a skier suf-
fered a spinal injury on the
hill,

But that shouldn’t scare
potential patrollers,

“People feel confident
after they help their first
person,’ he sald. ‘‘They
just need to get the willies
out of them.’

‘Besides, said Peters, they
get really good training.

Barry Peters

-year with

mu Ready?
THATS  HAZELTON'S
laad setter at the Junior
gitls volleyball tourna-
ment Saturday.

The tournament, was
held at Caledonia: this
teams from
Skeena Junior (host
team), Smithers, Thorn-
hil, Prince ~ Rupert,
Hazelton and Kitimat: tak-
Ing part,

Seg

Vv