_ TERRACE STANDARD | SECTION C ‘INSIDE R 638-7283 ig SPORTS MENU C2 SKEENA’ANGLER ROB BROWN Mudflap marvel Y FIRST FLIES were pathetic con- traptions, although I didn’t think so at the time. Caring litlle for tried and true dressings — the Royal Coach- men and Black Gnats — which had suckered fish since Isaak Walton was tadpole, I let my creative impulses drag me into uncharted territory. The flies from what I now call my intergalactic period, shone so brightly I could have read a fly tying. manual by their light, and I should have, for if the trout I fished for bit like mosquitoes do, I could have made a fortune selling my flies as ‘repellent. Slowly, oh so slowly, the sun came up., Creativity in fly dressing is like creativity in any other art, it grows from the fertile field of ideas and insighls of its past masters. Humbied after this stroke of brilliance, I sheepishly bought a fine little how-to book called How to Tie Goad Flies Well, and set out to learn some basic patterns. The first one was called Monkey-Faced Louise, named perhaps for iis creator’s girl friend. The dressing was simple one; the good dressings, as it turns out, always are, I followed the recipe care- fully, winding on a full body of olive wool fol- lowed by a hackle of pheasant rump. Next I mastered thé twists and turns of The Sack Fly, a barmyard concoction built from the feather of a barred rock rooster and strand of yarn from a polato sack. : With the Burlap beauty under my bell I moved on to a fly originally intended to imitate a species of bottom dwelling bullhead. Curiously the fly’s originator, Don Gapen, chose deer hair as the “main ingredient of his sculpin imitation. Deer hair is so buoyant it makes the fly head for the surface “in the most unsculpinlike manner. Though the miuddler. made a pretty poor bullhead, it managed to do preity credible imptes- sions of just about cvery other kind of trout food, The fly was so good few trout were safe, Soon the muddler had spread over the trout world like a plague of locusts, mutating often en route. All of these drab, earth-toned creatures fooled trout. Still there was the constant urge to build a better mouse trap. I thought about how I might improve upon the accepted patterns. Then, late one night after a long session of wrapping up improved versions of my beloved fly trio, inspiration struck — stimulated, no doubt, by the bits of Louise, bullhcads and burlap strewn about lhe top of my tying bench. I pinched an Eagle Claw hook in the jaws of the vice. Picked up hair of deer, ramp of pheasant, fiber of hemp and lashed them to the iron. What emerged was a ghastly beast with greenish brown rump fibers sticking from its butt, a hairy hemp body, ringneck hackle for legs and a bulbous head ~ of spun deer hair. I felt the feeling I’ve only felt a few times since: the feeling that Bell must have felt before he made his first cail. In a wave of anagramatic inspiration I christened my brain- child The Mudflap. After a fitful sleep, I rushed out to the stream and baptized the new fly. It worked well, almost too well. Trout and char didn’t take the new lure, they mugged it. The more the fish shredded the bug, the more hairy and impressionislic it be- came, and the better it fished. Since that fateful day I’ve fooled steelhead, all species of salmon as well as they prey for which _.the fly was intended. The mudflep performs well “in lakes and rivers. Fish may take it for cased "caddis larva, for stone My nymphs, or a bullhead, - but it is nol specifically intended to represent any of these creatures; it is intended to represent food. _ Pll share the recipe with you. Place a size four hook in your vice, Use a Japanese model, their ~ hooks, like their cars, are simply the best. This done, wrap a thread base with standard sized, waxed tying thread. Take a half dozen greenish brown fibers from the rump feather of a ring- necked pheasant and secure them at ihe bend of the hook, If you want to use some ballast, tle a piece of fine diameter lead on the front half of the shank and wind it on. If you are a purist leave out - this slep. Now advance the thread to the spot where you began the bug and lash down a strand of jute fiber (a strand from a dirty old potato sack is best, but not mandatory). Take the thread to the bend, wrapping over the burlap in the process, Bring the thread forward again, then wrap the body with the hemp and tie it off. Strip one side from a pheasant - rump fiber, tie it in by the tip, then, using the stem _ for a handle wind it forward three limes. Tie this off and snip the excess. Now spin a head with gray or brown deer hair, Trim the deer to a bullet-like profile, taking care not to snip the pheasant fibers. Whip finish or half-hitch the thread and apply a dollop of ce- ment, Does it look ugly? Good, then you have it tight -_ - ’ Go fishing, but use a stout leader. PASS IT ON. That's what Andrea Schneider (left) and Terrace’s own Michelle Hendry did last week at a four-day girls’ basketball clinic they held here. Their comments on the enthusiasm of participants were underlined by the fierce competitiveness (below) shown in the inter-squad “games” on Saturday morning. Rivals split in season finale ONE WIN, one loss, one shared. That was the symmetrical finish fo the badminton season put to- gether by Fran Mann and Nancy Condon. The share came in the Ladies doubles al the 1994 Terrace Open, the finale for the local club. The oft successful tandem worked again in the ‘A’ flight final where they knocked off [el- low Terracite Karen Resch and her parincr, Prince Rupert’s Hester Flewin, for the tille. Condon and Mann were finalisis again in the Ladies singles, Mann coming out on top in the 'A’ Flight match-up. But Condon evened it up in the Mixed Doubles ‘A’ when she and Dan Tuomi of Smithers proved joo much for Mann and clubmate Chris Terlesky. On the Men's side Cluck Cey celebrated a pair of titles, icaming with Norm Parry for the doubles, then knocking off Sleve Weir of Prince Rupert in the singles, both ‘A’ flight showdowns, It was the second time Weir had to settle for the runner-up spol to Cey, having parinered fellow Ruperter Serge St. Laurent in the doubles. St, Laurent got some compensa- tion with a win in the 'B’ flight singles. Terrace's Ron Julseth joined Ray Sam of Prince Rupert for the Men’s Doubles ‘B’, coastal duo Janet Tam and Charlotte Etzerza took the Ladies Doubles *B’ and Charlotte added another B title in the Mixed Doubles with Carl Et- zerga, With the season now over, many of the badminton club members: will now be switching racquets and heading for the lennis court. Expect to see Mann and Con- don tangle in a few of (hose finals again this year. IT WAS A day he started out “fealing good” and finished feeling even better. Chuck Cey took both the Men's singles and doubles titles at the Terrace Badminton Open, the season finale LEARNING FROM the best. . That's what local girl basketball players gal a chance io do last week as Terrace product Michelle Hendry and Invermere native Andrea Schneider conducted a four-day clinic here. , The duo were lynch pins of the most successful Simon Fraser University ladies team ever. Known as the ‘‘original six’? and coached by Allison McNeill, the Clan twice. made it to the NAIA championship final and set SFU team records, Their achievements were recog- nized by SFU in February when their numbers were retired, only the second time that had hap- pened in Clan history. “Tt was exciling,’’ Hendry said of the moment. ‘‘ A big honour.’ Held at Thornhill Jr. Secondary, the clinic ran Thursday through Sunday and the two dozen participants were kept busy. From the basics to defence to shooting to team concepls, every facet of the game was covered, While conceding a four day camp is tough on the players, ‘MALCOLM BAXTE shooting stars Schneider said she’d been .im- pressed by the enthusiasm of the group. How did they compare to them- selves at that age. “They're betier as a whole,” Hendry said. ““They’re a lot more skilled,” and she credited the quality. of coaching they were getting for the differcnce. Agreving there were two or three players who had the paten- lial to go all the way, Schneider emphasized that would depend on more than skills. “TPs whether they really want to do it,” she explained, adding it was perhaps hard at that age to realize the commitment it took to make il to the lop. When on the SFU team, there was the mandatory two hours practice daily. Add to that weight training, running, gym work and you get an idea of what they mean by commitment. And ‘ihe off-season was nol a ~ lime for relaxation. ‘We'd put in about five hours a day,” Schneider poinied out. Was it worth it? No question, Hendry replied. Even now they try to play every day and are members of the Van- couver ladics league. What brought them to Ter- " race/Thornhill for the clinic? “It’s putting something back,’’ said Hendry. And while she claims to have “dragged’’ Schneider - along, Hendry will be returning the favour when they head for In- vermere and another clinic. As for their future plans, both are irying to get into teaching in Vancouver, Schneider wants to start-out in elemenlary schools and work her way up lo cventuallt become a high school teacher and coach. Hendry admits she’s still un- decided just what direction she’d like to lake. Se One thing is certain whichever way she gocs: her students are going to gel hoop tips fom one of the province’s Finest, And for all the hard work and training that went into ‘the clinic: here, Hendry and Schneider kept the «atmosphere relaxed and friendly. Stars the visitors might have been, but to those taking part they were ‘‘Michelie”’ and ‘‘Andrea’’. “You Jangh funny,”? one youngster told Schneider during Saturday’s lunch break. ‘*Yeah, I’m always bugging her about il,”? quipped Hendry, im- ilaling the laugh. Whatever they learned about the finer points of basketball, it was obvious those taking part in the clinic would lake away memories of a good time as well.