DAVE TAYLOR _ SKEENA ANGLER .~ ROB BROWN J a Tranquillity nany day the Nass Valley is quiet, but on Sundays it is particularly subducd. On the Sabbath a gentle somnalent stillness, free from the whine of garden machinery or the thrum taffic, fills the bowl with a cinder block bottom and towering mountains sides. This is the endangered silence, no longer found in city or town, Even in the semi-rural areas outlying them — the places we used to called ‘‘the coun- try’” when we were kids — this gentle quietness is rare and threatened. It’s a shame, for this species of tranquillity seems more in tune with natural rhythms and natural orders; it defies haste; it’s conducive to contemplation and to sound decisions. It’s Sunday today. Webb’s at the wheel. We _ cruise along, pasta thawing Lava Lake onto the lava road bed toward Zolzap and SiiAx, and dis- caver a quict that’s quiet even by Nass Valley standards. Vetter Creek is dry, the many arteries that feed the upper Tscax are not mnning. Ex- cept for Llewellyn’s Disappearing Fails, falls are not falling. It certainly wasn’t like this the first time | came here fifteen years ago, late in a late spring, with Mike Whelpley, who had fished there with extraordinary success a few times before that, leading the way. The runoff was in full swing... The creeks were full. We strade along the trails. With the dexterity of high wire artists, we, crossed surging, high-water channels on fallen , trees. The forest was green and dark and filled , to overflowing, with the roar ofwater.: In a short time we were standing before a, falls, our faces covered with sweat and spray. At intervals a steclhead would Jeap against the torrent, disappear then be flushed downstream in what seemed a futile exercise. I made equally futile casts into the emerald water of a pool a short distance downstream while Mike clam- dered up trees looking for a unique camera angle. Photo shoot over, we crossed to river right on another fallen hemlock. ‘You're not going to believe this,’ said Mike, who had reached the far bank first, and was now looking into the water and shaking his head. I did believe my eyes, but with some difficulty, There, below us, undulating like a giant bed of underwater weeds, was a school of steelhead that must numbered over a hundred; as large a congrega- tion of those solitary animals as I'd seen before or have seen since. Webb made his first trip to the Nass ten years before me. As we pick our way over and through the near life-sized bonsai garden of lava, moss and persistent trees, Doug recalled how he and a pair of boyhood chums followed a similar route to the mouth of the Tseax, where he hooked and killed a large salmon with a fly intended for trowt, Quict is a stimulus to reminiscence too. We find ourselves ona side channel watered, because the Nass River is low and quiet, only by the Tseax and by creeks that have run under . Java for the last few hundred years. The Banks are red with osier, cropped as cvenly as any hedgerow by browsing moose. Fishing our way downstream, we come across the remains of one of the gardeners. There are no hind quartets. The. remaining bones are picked clean. The teeth on the front of the jaw bone are shaped like hooves; those on the back are sharp shears, -part incisor, part molar. Two kinds of mayflics hatch then lift off un- molested, Fry are scarce. I see a few flickering schools, but they prompt no rises; my black nondescript fly does though. I quickly hook and gently release two shimmering cullbroat trout and a dolly varden. No fish are interested in _ Doug's minnow pattem, a more logical choice than mine. Whimsically, he tries an autumn egg pattern and hooks three rainbow trout; not steel- head juveniles but honest-to-goodness rainbows complete with leaps and ruddy cheeks. ' Doug, ever the theorist, ponders this unusual event and concludes that the fake eggs make good counterfeit alevins. Despite having a pat- tern that works just fine, the construction of a better alevin with similar lines, dominates our conversation on way back to the truck. At the road we meet a second nation person jogging. I guess he is a school teacher. He tells me I’m right. Our rods prompt him to ask about fishing, which leads to talk of the road now ap- proaching Kincolith. I suggest thal, since isola- tion saved the Nisga’a the degree of cultural abuse, and the plagues, heaped on the Tsim- shian, roads might not be.such a fine idea, The jogging educator agrees. ‘‘On Friday night al- most every body Icaves for Terrace,’’ he says. “‘Aiyanish turns into a ghost town.” The lure of shopping is strong. — Even though tranquillity may not be in vogue, but we're sad to leave it, and cager to return. BODY SCULPTORS Trina Mateus and Bernadine Drake head to the B.C. Fitness The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 23, 1997 - B7 Championships in Burnaby this weekend. Northmen start season strong OUR TERRACE Northmen mgby squad has kicked off their scason with three consecutive matches apainst Prince Rupert’s new and im- proved Seamen. The season opener took place three weekends ago in the rainy city. The Seamen, sporting a new coaching crew, two British guys, a new determination and a whole lot of new faces held the Northmen scoretess in the first half while rack- ing up 12 points. Meanwhile, the Northmen, under the tutelage of playing coach Gra- ham Bayles, came out strong but had difficuity executing their “ruck and run” strategy in the first half. However when the Terrace squad managed to follow the script, it was exciting and fast rugby. They came close a few times in the opening stanza, but came up short and changed ends at the half with a big goose egg on the scoreboard. The Seamen have spent the winter Peaks girls haul rebuilding their club and working to attract new players and coaches. Their enthusiasm was evident in the first 20-30 minutes with some long, sustained plays that were rewarded with two tries and a conversion. The first portion of the second half was a feisty affair that saw both teams narrowly missing scoring op- portunities. In the iast 20 minutes of what was becoming a very exciling match for the record crowd gathered, some of the early-season jitters and winter rust wore off and the Northmen’s greater depth in experience and fit- ness allowed them to dominate the game. John McGowan, playing on the wing, used his legendary speed to score two tries in the comer and Willie McCleary put one of the two conversions through the uprights to tie the game at 12. The last five minutes of regular time had the Terrace lads knocking Club scores big in Kitimat THE TERRACE Peaks Gymnastics Ciub really cleaned up two weekends ago at the annual Kitimat Invitational Gymnastics Competl- tion. A total of 43 competitors from Terrace, Kitimat and Smithers took part in the tourmament. Of 18 competitors in the Level One Midget competition, Marla Schulmeister placed second overali after great floor and vault per- formances. Kylie Amdam finished thiid — thanks largely to her strong first- place finish on the bars, Raina Karrer’s second place on the vault and first on the floor also helped her to finish fourth overall. Heather Titterton’s vaulting ex- cellence gave her first place in that event. And Dierdra Juba picked up a silver on the floor and a bronze on the beam to finish ninth overall. In the Level One Tyro, Amanda Parks finished first of seven compe- titors. Sarah Parks also did well, with a bronze on the vault and a sil- ver on the beam. In the Level Two Open, it was Melissa Hambuis finishing with sec- ond place overall and Keira Almas ending up with third. The Level Three Open saw only two girls compete in this challeng- ing category. Annie Wittkowski took first, with Annadelle Kurtz sec- ond, The Level Two Tyro competition was won by Kim Rooker, with Loren Elgert taking second. And Shawna Pritchard took first in the Level Two Midget group. Meanwhile, at the Level Four Championships in Victoria, Eva Mateus took a gold for her work on the floor, Eva ended up ninth overall out ofa field of 25 athletes. Gur Zone Seven finished third overall in team score. event. Championships. B.C. THE SEARCH for the perfect body continues at the B.C. Fitness Championships in Burnaby this weekend. And Temace is sending two svelte competitors to the 638-7283 finals Bernadine Drake, 25, and 19-year-old Trina Mateus are leaving tomorrow to head to the big city for the tourna- ment — which acts as a qualificr for the Canadian Drake competed at last year’s Nationals, but she says she still has butterflies about the Vancouver event. “Tm really nervous,”? she says. ‘“But at least now I know what to expect.”’ “Pm really nervous, but at least now I know what to expect,”’ -Bernadine Drake- strength, flexibility, The Provincial Championships consist of three rounds of judging, one of which will include a two-minule acrobic dance and gymnastics routine. The women will be judged on poise, body symmetry, coordination, choreography, car- diovascular endurance, stage presence and attire. “They lose points if they’rc too muscular or too skinny,’’ says choreographer Laurie Monture. ‘‘They have to look really healthy.” The women say they owe a big thanks to all their sup- porters, including Kim Groot, Gail Munson, Bob Parks, Sue Springer and Tom Johnson. If they do well in Vancouver, they will qualify for the Canadian Championships coming up in May. the distance. Boxers split a pair in Kitimat TERRACE BOXERS fought at a bout in Kitimat two weekends ago, and they came back with a record of one-win and one-loss, Local fighter Gary Hanes lost a 2-1 split descision against Gurinder Bassi in a very close battle that went And Melissa Gerow of Terrace won a unanimous de- cision over Avalene Daniels of Prince Rupert. Terrace’s Chad Gerow also fought in an exhibition against Peter Daniels. Gerow then took off to Courtney over the weekend. He went down to the island town to fight at the annual Emerald Belt competition. Look for his results in an upcoming Standard. at the try linc door numerous times, but with a last surge of resilience the Seamen held on for a tie. The rematch took place the fol- lowing weekend in Rupert and this time the Northmen prevailed, chalk- ing up their first victory of the sea- son after 80 minutes of exciting rugby action. The Northmen scored two quick ties during the first 15 minutes of what looked to be a blow-out in the making. Both scoring plays came off second and third phase ball with rookie winger Dan Craig scoring in the corner for the first five of the match. ; John McGowan scored the second try in the opposile corner to give the Northmen 10 points, Doug Wilson missed both conversion attempls and a potential four points. Then the Seamen came to life, and despite missing a few seasoned veterans to injuries sustained in the scason-operer, pul on a tremendous in Le voy AOH WINNING BiG, that’s gold medalist Raina Karrer and silver. effort. They brought the score close a few times with two tries and a conversion — bringing them to within a five-point spread they were unable to close. The final nail was driven in the Seamen's coffin with Doug Wilson scoring a hard-fought try up the middie. Wilson spun and weaved like a whirling dervish, breaking three or four tackles to score under the posts, The 15 point total was comple- mented with Wilson adding a suc- cessful conversion kick and minutes later adding a penalty kick from 38 yards out to give the Northmen 20 points on the night. The Northmen played their home ficld opener last weekend with the third match against the Seamen on Saturday night, followed Sunday by a match against the Smithers Camels in their first game of ‘97, Look for details in an upcoming issue of the Standard. medals ‘medalists Dierdra Juba, Marla Schulmeister and a Smithers athlete after their medal winning floor performances.