_ TERRACE STANDARD

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 7, 2001 - BS

PORTS...

Ski team ties for top spot

| SKEENA ANGLER: |
ROB BROWN

Balance

n fly-fishing, balance is achieved when

I the perfect coordination of hand, eye,

wrist, forearm, rod, line, and fly blends
harmoniously and becomes an efficient cast,
Since a fly fisher spends considerably more
time casting than catching, il’s obvious that his
enjoyment will be directly proportional to his
ability to execute a variety of casts in an
efficient and gratifying manner. The precise
application of just enough power necessary to
perform the task will cause the line to cut
through the air in a tight, sinuous loop, unfurl
and straighten over the water, gently depositing
the. fly: on the surface. Like anything worth
doing, this balance is -not easily achieved;
without a balanced outfit it's impossible to attain.

’ A balanced outfit is an ensemble of rod, reel,
line and leader (and, to a lesser degree, a fly, J
suppose) that can be made to perform in the
manner outlined above. The weight of the rod,

oD its length, and size of the reel will vary

depending on the kind fishery in which it is to

. be used, But, the same general principles I’m
about to discuss apply to all sizes of rods.

Now that graphite rods dominate the market,

the kind of material is not the large

1: consideration it used to be, Still, if casting

perfection is what we’re after, it helps to know
that no synthetic material is the equal of

“1 bamboo when it comes to making the smooth

cast. This is because synthetic rods are tubular,
and since the strength of a tube decreases as its
‘bend increases, their circular configuration turns
into an oval under stress. As a result of this
characteristic, the tubular rod develops its
Maximum power the instant it straightens. This
. moment-is quick and abrupt, causing a.

Pe Pere Oe

“Sworks?against“a smooth delivery: Cane rods, on ‘|
‘T the’ other”hand, develop ‘power as they bend.

This power eases as the rod straightens, a
feature conducive to fluid casts.

No matter what it is made of, a good all
purpose rod will have a supple action throughout
its length. To test for this quality a rod should be
shaken vigorously from side to side. When this
is done you should feel the pole bending at a
point underneath the cork on the upper part of
its handle. When the rod is flexed in this
manner you should lock for the two points where
the bend is most pronounced. These are called
cross aver points; there should be one half way
between the ferrule and the rod tip, and another
just above the handle.

This limber, parabolic action can be found in
graphite rods. The original Orvis carbon fibre
rods had it, and, though I haven’t seen any
recently, | imagine the Orvis Company still
manufactures them. The Sage “Light Line"
series has an action close to this, though they
are a little quicker. The first carbon fibre rods
manufactured by House of Hardy under the
name "Favourite" also have an action similar,
but not identical to rods built of cane. All of
these rods come to rest smoothly and quickly
after being wiggled from side to side. This is
another feature a good rod must have.

There are lots of expensive reels on the
market. Most have disk drags systems strong
enough to halt a speeding train, yet the drag
may be the least important feature of a fly reel
since the angler can apply drag with his palm,
or, in the case of reels without an outboard rim,
with his finger. More important is the durability
of the reel and how it balances the rod it will
serve,

When the reel is loaded with fly line and
then stipped into the reel seat, and the line
threaded through the guides, the whole works
should balance nicely on your index finger at a
point two or three inches above the rad’s handle.
Strike this balance, and you will ga long way
toward the elimination of casting fatigue,
believe me.

A large length of level My line tapered at
both ends is called a double taper, and it is still
the most brilliant. concept in fly line
construction. [t is also the most versatile, as

COURSE conditions were
perfect for alpine racing at
Shames Feb. 23-24.

That was when Shames
played host to the Merrill
Lynch Slalom Races.

The event saw teams
from Prince George, Smi-
thers and Terrace racing in
two separate slalom races
on Saturday and a com-
bined two run alpine race
on Sunday.

With a mid-mountain
base hovering around 220
em and relatively mild
weather the racing condi-
tions were pretty much
perfect.

The Shames mountain
ski team managed to tie
Smithers for first spot in
the medal count.

Both teams left the
races with 19 medals each.
Prince George took in 16.

The Shames ski team
did very weil with 11
skiers competing.

and 2 silver in the JZ 15-18
ape class.

Aaron Gingles raced in
the J! 15-18 and went on
to win both a silver medal
and a bronze.

Stacey Bluke was ski-
ing in the K2 13-15 age
grouping and managed to
nab two silver medals in
her age class and a bronze

medal in the overall cate-’

gory for the single run
races Saturday.

Ben Peters raced in the
men’s 13-15 class and
clinched one silver medal.

Also skiing in that divi-

sion was Ryan Monsces |

who was speedy enough
for a bronze medal.

The women’s 13-15 ca-
tegory saw Leah LeClerc
take home a bronze medal.

And skiing in the Ki
11-13 age class was
Shames” own Julia Peters.

This young lady is defi-
nilely a skier to watch.

bined two run race on Sun-
day.

Despite being in the
youngest age class her
times in all the races were
good enough to beat out
most of the competition in
the age class above her.

In Sunday’s combined

races she placed first in.

her category with a time of
1:32.23.

Only one girl at the K2
level managed to beat that
time. And the first place
overall winner, Janna
Trapp| from Smithers,
races at the J2 level.

Peters walked away
with two bronze medals for
her overall times.

Sheena LeClerc skiing
at the K? level took home
a silver medal.

Last but not least was
young Jeffrey Rushton
competing in his set of
races ever. He earned him-
self two bronze medals.

snap that...

Mathieu LeClerc has
been skiing exceptionally
well this year. He man-
aged to win 1 gold medal

THE TERRACE skating club has been very
busy as the end of the skating scason draws
ever closer.

The club kicked off February with an ap-
pearance at the northern B.C. Winter Games.
Before that was the Cariboots and Blades
meet in Williams Lake in January.

Thirteen skaters travelled to Prince
George Feb. 16-18 for the regional skating
competition.

In the pre-bronze ladies free skate Jamie
Penner placed second in her flight as did
Janet Lewis.

Joanne Homeniuk took fourth place, Kel-
sey Wilcox sixth and Samantha Nyce placed
ninth.

In the pre-preliminary ladies division Cay-
lan Carruthiers placed fifth overall.

The intermediate ladies competition saw
Stephanie Leong place first.

Kelsey Minhinnick skated her way to a

She managed to take
first place in each of the
individual races on Satur-
day as well as the com-

“A Htotal : of -360°kids: participated -at» the’ *-
meet with teams from all over the northwest. .

Ss

2000 - 2001

“SR-CARLS TAA
"AASRETBAUL

Julia Peters and Sheena
LeClere also cach re-
ceived most improved
skier medals.

fourth place slanding and Kimberly Wilcox
nabbed a sixth place finish.

Also competing at the pre-preliminary ta-
dies level was Shelby Stach who placed se-
venth overall.

Heather Hanna was the only club member
taking part in the senior bronze ladies divi-
sion and she tock a very respectable third
place finish.

Next up was Amy Mattern skating for the

* juvenile-ladies: competition. She placed: ele--

venth overall.

The pre-silver ladies division saw Sabrena
Harvey nab sixth spot.

The pre-bronze ladies artistic competition
took the emphasis away from skills competi-
tion and allowed the skaters to focus on their
artistic interpretations set to music.

Kelsey Minhinnick lead Terrace skalers
with a second place finish. Joanne Homeniuk
was hot on her heels coming in third.

And not far behind was Heather Hanna
who nabbed the fifth place spot followed clo-

AARON GINGLES powers through a gate during
the alpine races held at Shames Feb. 29-24.

Season’s end in sight for skaters

sely by Janet Lewis who came in sixth.

And finally in the silver iadies artistic
skate was Amy Mattern who came home
with a fourth place finish.

The skating club also brought the team to
Kitimat fot the interclub competition. Seven
teams took part in the competition. From
Vanderhoof to Prince Rupert.

“We had a wonderful showing from the
Terrace Skating club,” said club public rela-

- tions liaison Kelly Mattern. 7-00 ~~

_ Mattern was particularly impressed. with
the club’s incredible sportsmanship and team
spirit.

The Terrace Skating placed second behind
Prince Rupert for the aggregate team scare.

And the intermediate ladies arlistic award
went to the club’s Kelsey Wilcox.

The club will finish off the season with a
pop concert Mar. 15 from 5:45-8 p.m. Skaters
from four-years-old to 17 will take part. The
public is invited to come take in the concert
and admission is free.

CAL IS going to the AAA provincial basketball championships Mar, 7-10. For
the first time in three years a northwest team is competing at ihe tournament.

Girls’ hoop squad

go to provincials

CALEDONIA Senior Secondary school
was the site for much excitement Feb. 23
and 24 as the hometown Kermodes took
on Kitimat in the AAA girls high school
basketball zone championships.

The team winning the best of three
games would go on to represent the north-

TBR eae E . ee
m North American champ

LOCAL ATHLETE Mike Diana recantly re-
turned to Terrace with this six-foot tall trophy
from the Compete 2001 karate champlon-
Ships in Caillfornia. Diana was competing in a
discipline called point fighting at the brown belt
level, The tournament brought together about
800 compatitors from Canada, the U.S. and
Mexico, With the win in his division Diana be-
came the North American champion for 2004,
Also competing at the international meet was
Liam Murphy who placed second in his cate-
gory. Valerie Jeffery, a kickboxer from Terrace
also took part. A petite woman weighing in at
125 pounds, Jeffery was pitted against an op-
ponent who tipped the scales at 250 pounds.
She lost her match but only by one point. The
Shogun Dojo, which all thrae competitors train
at, will be heading to the international Tiger
Balm martial arts competition Mar. 17 and 18,

anyone who has tried spey casting with a weight
forward knows,

All that is left to balance the outfit is the
leader. If the bulk of your fishing time is
devoted to large fish, you neéd three spools of
monofilament, 20, 15, and 10 pound breaking
strength respectively, and the ability to tie a
blood knot (a skill easily acquired by following
the instructions in the booklet that came with west! zone at the B.C. high school provin-
your fly line.) Once three feet of each of the cial championships in Vancouver Mar. 7-
above are joined together, a simple tapered 10. .
leader that will turn over big flies emerges.

For trout fishing, things are almost as simple,
Using the same knot, seekers of balanced
trouting will need a nine foot leader consisting
of 18 inches of 15 Ib test, 32 inches of 10 Ib,
two 20 inch chunks of 6 lb and 4 Ib test and 18
inches of 3 lb, The same proportions can. be
used for heavier leaders. = .

Do all this and balanced perforriance will be
your reward, _ vss ~

first half, Going into the second the score
sat at 32-6 for Caledonia.

The second half saw the Kermodes
playing a much faster and more rough
game than their opponents. MESS just
couldn't keep up and the Kermodes took
their second game in a row by a score of
87-13,

Caledonia's Gillian Gook, Leah Malo,
Pam Gavronsky and Sonia More were
named as the playoff all-stars. Kitimat’s
Andrea Neuman was also selected as a
member of the all-star team.

And the tournament’s most valuable
player award went.to Caledonia’s captain
Kelly Haugland.

This is the first time in three years that
a girls team from the northwest has gone
to. the AAA girls provincial champion-
ships. - .

Kitimat’s team has struggled all year.
With a slow to. respond defence and a
lacklustre offence, the team was no com-
petition for the Caledonia Kermodes,

The first game was played Friday night
and the Kermodes easily walked away
with a 90-28 victory.

In game two Saturday afternoon the’
story was preity much the same. The Ker-
modes held MESS to three baskets in the