-

KEENA ANGLER
ROB BROWN

Trout Travels 16

othing happened when he set the
N hook. So, Kenny thought, the piano
tuner’s hook, or maybe the split shot
on his lead line, was dragging over a
rock or a log, and that’s why his float
went under @ couple of times.

Now he’d vigorously planted the hook into
the sunken obstruction when the same thing ©
happened to him, wedging the Polar Shrimp
between two boulders or, worse still, sunk the
hook deep into the skin of some soggy
subsurface chunk of timber. There was nothing
to do but break off. He jerked upward on the rod
two more limes. The hook stayed stuck; the line
didn’t break,

He peeled line from the reel then made
motions like a cobra poised to strike as he
wound his arm around it. He pointed the tip of
the rod at the point where the monofilament line
disappeared into the Thompson, and began.
walking backwards. The line dug deeply into the -
sleeve of his leather jacket, so deeply that he
feared it might cut off his circulation.

He took ancther step back, expecting the line:
to snap with a crack like a pistol shot. There :
was no snap ofr crack. The line moved. It's a big
stick, thought Kenny, I've dislodged it. It's
tumbling along the bottom now.

The slow tumbling accelerated and turned
into something that felt like a huge beating
heart at the end of his line. As the pulse
quickened, Kenny’s did too. He scrambled to
pull his arm free of the coil of line. The rod tip
bounced vigorously. forcing him to slip‘his tight -
arm out of the right sleeve with a mové:worthy
of a straitjacketed Harry Houdini.

The strain increased. Kenny stumbled down
the beach toward the river, struggling to free his
jacket. As soon as he had, the line began
peeling from the reel so quickly it seemed to
melt. He tried to brake the rim of the whirling
reel with his palm but was sharply and painfully
rebuked by a rap on the knuckles from the
handles. He waited for the inevitable backlash.
The reel did not overrun; ils watch-like workings
held it in check.

A fish breached far out in the heavy current.

Because his line was pointing downstream at a
steep angle, Kenny didn’t realize the steelhead
was attached to it until the monofilament
whipped back upstream in a wide arc leaving a
plume of spray.

The big belly in the line gave the reel an

handle and cranked frantically. The fish took to
the air more than half the way across the river.
Kenny froze. The creature was magnificent, a
fleeting monument to strength and
determination. It seemed to hang in the air for
an impossibly long time, then it sank into the
maelstrom like a setting silver sun.

Before Kenny could make another turn, the
fish was in the air shaking and shimmering
again. The action stopped abruptly. The line
went slack, .

i’ve lost him, Kenny thought.

He reeled in half heartedly, spinning the reel
drum to hasten the retrieval of the line, then felt
resistance. The fish had been running at him, He
caught up to it and applied pressure once again,
hoping that all its acrobatics had exhausted the
beast.

' The steelhead raced downstream more’
‘powerfully than before. Kenny watched the line:
. disappear from the Silex and worried about»
whether there was enough. When the reel arbor
showed beneath a thin veneer of nylon, he
clamped his palm on the rim. It burned, He
‘winced, The fish stopped. The line throbbed.
Kenny pumped the rod and cranked hard. The

gained line then was forced to give it out again.
His heart beat rapidly and loudly. His arms
ached. His left hand was frozen to the cork; he
couldn’t feel it, His right hand ached from the
beating it had taken.

The tension was almost too much for Kenny,

.and for his newfound equipment. To his surprise
and relief, everything stayed intact, and the
. Strain began to lessen.

it's coming in, he said in disbelief. After a
few feints close to shore followed by a few short
runs, the fish was at his feel, He’d never seen a
fish that big.

It was long. It was wide, a big male with
crimson flanks. Kenny crouched and pawed the
beach behind him for a rock and found one
slightly bigger than his fist.

He looked at the magnificent fish, a trophy, ,
and the fish of a lifetime. He felt the heft of the |
tock. He hesitaled,

To be continued «a.

opportunity to wind down. Kenny grabbed the .

heavy current magnified the size of the fish, He!

Program gears/

youth for jobs

By SARAH A.
ZIMMERMAN
ABORIGINAL youth in
this area are plunging into
a special program de-
signed to get their feet wet
in aquatics and backcoun-

try guiding,

The summer program
focusses on training First
Nations youth aged 13-25
in aquatic programming,
backcountry guiding and
adventure tourism.

The provincially funded
program called Aboriginal
Youth FIRST (Futures in
Recreation and Sport
Training) hopes to provide
the groundwork to partici-
pants for careers in those
fields.

The aquatics compo-
nent has been running in
Terrace for more than a
month.

“We've designed a pro-
gram which allows First
Nations youth to come in
and acquire swimming
skills which will lead to
lifeguard qualifications,”
says Steve Scott, director
of parks and recreation for
the City of Terrace.

Terrace, Prince Rupert,
Kitimat and Smithers are
all helping deliver the pro-
gram in the north.

Chris Collins, 26, says
he was already interested

in: the idea-of-becoming a.
' lifegdaid béfore'he’d heard °**

about the program.

“It turned out they were
doing this program so I
hopped right on,” he says,
“I’m hoping for a job op-
portunity in the long run,
but right now it’s a lot of
fun.

“You've got to have fun
with everything you do."

Chrystal Seymour, 18,
is also taking part in the
aquatics component.

She says the lessons are
helping her become more

In recreation

comfortable in the water
and learn new skills.

“We are learning to
search for things in the
pool in deep water and
learning new entries,”
Seymour explains.

Another part of the pro-
gram sees youth learning
backcountry skills such as
trip preparation, route find-
ing, survival skills and
wilderness first aid.

The backcountry com
ponent of the program is
being administered by the
Federation of B.C. Moun-
tain Clubs,

Simon Austen is the
program coordinator,

He says depending on
the background of the indi-
viduals and their dedica-
tion to the programs, some
participants could be eli-
gible to get their Associa-
tion of Canadian Mountain
Guides (ACMG) day hik-
ing guide certification in
just three years

That's exactly whal Na-
tasha Coe, 19, is hoping to
do,

She says she was drawn
to the program because
she wants to become a
wilderness guide in the fu-
ture,

Spending time in the
outdoors on camping and
canoe trips is something

‘she's:always loved to-do. !

IRS. a Sway ‘to “gel “out
there where you're away’
from all of civilization,”
she said of her affinity for
the outdoors. “I’m not real-
ly sure what it is about it —
I just like it. It's kind of
freedom I guess.”

Backcountry _ partici-
pants take part in a series
of day hikes and learning
sessions in various places
around the north through-
out the summer.

The program caps off
with a 12 day camp which

“CHRYSTAL SEYMOUR, 18

638-7283

ae

, is taking part in the aquatics portion of the Abori-

ginal Youth FIRST program. First Nations youth are training in aquatics and
backcountry guiding which could jead to jobs later. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

see the group take a wild-
erness first aid course then

Society and has been busy .
recruiting participants and
talking to young people

also teach young partici-
pants how to develop busi-

“It strengthens our communities, it
opens doors and empowers our youth.”

about the program.

“Tt was so well received
and they are very, very ex-
cited to have this oppor-
tunity presented to them,"

prepare for and complete a
four day backcountry hike.
The pilot project will

during the Bambino division's season ending tournament.

It's the bottom of the ninth
for Bambino season

THE BATS were swinging
and the balls were flying
as young baseball players
took to the field last week-
end.

Terrace minor base-
ball’s Bambino division
held its year end tourna-
ment at Elks Park Jun 22-
24,

Shoppers Drug Mart
came out on top after the
weekend round robin with
a four win, one tie record.

The game that put them
into first place saw the

team outhit Northern’ Sav-

ings in a 12-2 victory,
"

i

The Downtown Lions
Club came close with a
four win, one loss record.

Northern Savings Credit
Union nabbed third place
winning three games and
losing two.

Ikon managed two wins
in the tournament and
three losses. :

June 24 saw Ikon go
head to head with Farka.
The game was a nail. biter
with [kon nudging out

Farko for fourth place after.

a 14-13 loss.
Farko's fifth place fin-

ish came after ‘one win and .

four losses. ;

All West Glass rounded
out the round robin at the
back of the pack with
four losses one tie record
but not- without some
kudos.

The record may have
put the team last in the
tourney but they were
commended for being the
only team not mercied by
dominators Shoppers Drug
Mart.

In a 9 am. game June

23 All West played: hard

holding Shoppers to an. 11-
11 tie. eS

the Kermode Friendship

hot yet sure if he’ll be able.to go.

Fee says, “It strengthens
our communities, it opens
doors and empowers our
youth,”

ness plans.
Tammy Fee works for

Copper Mountain
clean up planned

THREE LOCAL climbers want to clean up the access
road and trails around Copper Mountain and they’re hop-
ing other outdoor enthusiasts will help out.

Gary McQuaid, James McGettigan and Reuben Bond
are planning a clean-up day July 7 to rid the popular
area of litter.

“All kinds of people use this area,” McGettigan says.
“Climbers, hikers and people walking their dogs.

The trails near the Hydro power lines are also widely
used by mountain bikers and ATV user.

People interested in joining the July 7 clean-up are
asked to meet at the Canadian Canoe Museum (in the
old River Industries building ) at 11:30 a.m. Patticipants
will then car pool to Capper Mountain.

Organizers expect the project to run until 5 p.m.

For more information call Gary McQuaid at 638-0877
or James McGettigan at 635-1557.

Teen kickin’ it
en route to Italy

STUDENTS FROM Terrace’s Shogun Dojo claimed top
spots among Canada’s best martial artists at the recent
May 17 World Karate Association (WKA) Nationals.

Val Jeffery, Mike Diana and Mario Furtado all won
medals and qualified for the WKA world championships,
ta be held in Italy in August, said Marwan Abu Khadra
the dojo’s renshi.

Jeffery won gold in point karate, and high-kicked his
way to a silver in kickboxing.

Furtado nabbed a silver in point fighting and a silver
in kickboxing,

Diana, the only student who is able to go to the com:
petition in Italy, fought hard to a silver in kickboxing.

Instructor, Marwan Abu Khadra, is the head coach of
continuous fighting for the WKA nationalteam:

He hopes to accompany Diana to Italy, although he’s

“They don’t need me anymore,” said Abu Khadra‘of
his students. “They're that good.” a Sgt