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—SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN

The first fish

ne day the sky is lead gray, and there are

no birds. A day later everything is lit up,

the willow in the font yard is full of

birds, the air is full of their chattering, and the cats sit on the sill twitching with each move- ment of the flock.

I'm behind the pane too, sipping coffee, Dipping through diaries, wondering where best ta find the first trout of the year.

Finlay was by a week ago,

Randy Dozzi, he ‘said, walked over the melting snow to Herman’s Point, mainly to practice casting his new double handed fly rod.

He caught only one of the whitefish that, other than over wintering steelhead and sculpins, are the only species that spent the winter in the river.

And he saw some rises in the slow water between the pool and the lake,

Midges, Fin was sure of it, What else would provoke tiscs al that time of year?

Webb arrives. We loss around a number of ideas,

_ Because of the early thaw, the Kalum is on the high side, and a little dirty in the places where newly ar- rived steelhead are found.

The Copper suffers from the same affliction, We decide to get the canoe then paddle along the lake shore to the outflow of the river and check out Fin- lay’s theory.

Only a few years ago we'd race to the river then fish hard from early morning until night.

‘Nowadays we make our way slowly, stopping at Berl’s Deli for a couple of the world’s meatiest sand- wiches - on dark rye, of course - made by the friend- liest people who ever dispensed sliced meat and

" cheese,

As we cross the Oldest Bridge I tell Webb how I once took all but twa slices from one of Frau Kriegl’s ham and cheese specials, reducing it the size of an average sandwich, then made four more sandwiches with the remaining meat,

Where we meet the road is too narrow for grader and pickup. -

~. Wind is moving through the trees yet the lake is calm. ;

**'Qh no,” moans Webb. “‘It’s still iced over.’’

Not ice, actually,

The lake is slush the road around it to the outflow is mush. ~ We consider this situation for a few minutes, walk tothe lake to confirm that canocing is oul of the question, walk back and decide to fill the canoe with gear then drag it over the snow, down the road, the spol where the ice ends,

The boat slides easily,

We slide it half a mile, then slide it into the weed filled channel leading out of the lake.

‘It’s quiet, calm. Nothing dimples the watez.

Even the smallest sound is large in this context.

T toss a leech out.

Webb trolls a dragon behind the boat.

I take out the Nikons and fasten onto a cluster of white mounds that turn out to be four tumpeters - cob, pén and a pair of cygnets.

As we glide nearer the birds begin to make low mu- sical, bubbling sounds,

gets louder, more agitated, and more varied.

I listen carefully and swear no two phrases are identical.

Finally, they. decide the direction we’re pushing them is nol where they want to be.

“They lift themselves from the water with long graceful. wing strokes, cut through the air in a wide arc, their flight feathers riffling in the wind like shuf- fling. playing cards. as iey pass us, Tow and close overhead.

I'm still following the fight of the swans when Webb sights a disturbance in the water downstream.

Until it dives with sinuous curve and with no warn-

. ing slap we think it's a beaver.

Now we're sure it’s an otter. It is.

A large, healthy inale, we guess, that scrambles up onan ice shelf, chewing something,

I bring him inio focus.

He rolls like a contented dog then sits up and cranes his neck to Jook at us before sliding in the waler once more,

Moments later v we spot another otter,

Smaller, thinner, with beautiful white markings un- der her chin and onber chest

She hunts in the same manner, under the edge ice

A-short.time after that we here a high pitch crack- ling sound: the kind of call a raven will make, but these are no ravens.

We look up and.see a flock of nineteen swam like hirds, bigger than geese but smaller than lrumpeters.

While we're wondering what kind of fowl these are my rod tip twitches once, twice. ‘You've got a fish,” Doug says. ~ Indeed Ido. °

A‘small-firm litle fellow no more than ten inches, small bul firm and preity:

The flist fish of the year.

_As it turns out, the only one we catch ona tranquil, re] uvenating day,

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 27, 1996 - B7

638-7283

AIMING HIGH. Lee Maximchuck, 16, hopes to be boxing at the national level one day, He's been involved in the sport for over two years, and his coach says Maximchuk has what it takes to

Fighting their way to the top

MEMBERS OF the Terrace Boxing Club came away from a tournament in Prince Rupert with three wins and a narrow loss.

Five fighters attended the Prince Rupert Challenge March 16 and coach Dwayne Ridler says he was pleased with their per- formance,

**The one Joss was to a more experienced fighter,”’ he says.

One of the five fights was an exhibition bout and it was not scored.

The next tournament on the schedule is the Silver Gloves in Kelowna on the Easter weekend.

Ridler says it up to cach boxer to decide whether or not they want to attend.

Kitimat is hosting a club mect on April 27 and boxers fom Ter- race, Prince Rupert, Prince George and possibly Alaska are expected to attend,

The BC Golden Gloves tourna- ment goes at the end of May, and Ridler says the Terrace club has two boxers who are good enough to hold their awn there.

One of them is 16-year-old Lee Maximchuk.

Lee has been boxing for over two years, and says he got in- volved in the sport because he thought it would be a neat idea to try something different. -

‘Half the stuff is not as easy as it looks,’ he says.

He points to the long runs and hundreds of sit-ups that are all a part of training.

Maximchuk says he hopes to box at the national level one day.

“Wail a couple of years and

you'll sce me there.’”

Sa, what’s the biggest challenge for Maximchuck on the road to the top?

‘Seeing the other guy,” he says.

“7 need glasses, which, you.

can’t wear ia the ring, and Wear- -

ing contact lenses isn't permitted | because they might split in your eye if you get hit,”’

Among the 20 or so boxers who've dedicated themselves to

the sport in Terrace, are three or -

four girls who come out regulari- ly for practices.

One of them is 16- “year-old Dawn Kobe.

She’s only been boxing since September, but plans to stick with a while,

“Tt helps you gain confidence in yourself,’’ she explains.

‘And I’m a lot more in shape now.”

Kobe has fought four exhibition bouts and she says she feels good about them.

She admits it’s an unusual sport for a girl to be involved in, but doesn’t feel it’s particulariy violent.

Kobe says she hopes to get in- volved in coaching one day.

The boxing club works out three times a week in the base- ment of the old government building on Lakeise.

Anyone is welcome to drop by.

The practices go from 7 p.m. lo 9 p.m.

And Ridler says anyone who's interested in belping out with coaching duties is also invited,

gS

ga national. The Terrace Boxing Club practices every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday night in the basement of the old govern-

ment building on Lakeise.

PUT 'EM UP! 16-year-old Dawn Kabe Is one the few girls in Ter- race taking an active interest in boxing. She's fought in four axhi- bition bouts and was pleased with her performances. Kobe says

boxing has helped her get in shape and gain self confidence,

Dream finally realized for Terrace artist

IT’S THE big break he’s been waiting for.

A major sports equipment manufacturer has added local art- ist Mark Hart to it’s employee list.

Hart. is now the only artist on the west coast working for TTECH, an castern based Amet- ican company.

And although he’s not under contract, Hart says he’s now the person who'll be considered to paint goalic masks for all western hockey teams,

“All ITECH reps in the west now have my name,’ he ex- plains,

‘And if'a goalie on a team thal uses ITECH equipment wants a mask painted, the rep will suggest me.’”

If. i's a go, ITECH. will send Hart the mask and he'll have five

or six days to paint it al his studio here in Terrace.

After that, he send the mask directly back to the team and ITECH gets the bill,

And that will be anywhere from $275 to $375 dollars, depending on the detail that went into the art,

_“There’s no guarantee on the number of masks,’ Hart says. And they’re starting me off with teams in the IHL, WHL, and NHL farms teams.”

He says it just like being in

hockey, you start out in the

minors and work your way up, But, Hart adds, if the three art- ists who work for ITECH on the cast coast become too busy, it’s possible he could be given an NHL mask to paint at any time. : Hart-was selected: for the jab from a pool of six applicants.

.And he says il was incredibly

stressful waiting for the news. Earlier this year he painted a

mask with the Alcatraz prison on

it for San Jose goalie Wade

Flaherty.

Flaherty, who played minor hockey. in Terrace, approached Hart here last summer to commis- sion the work,

And that's what set the wheels .

in motion. ITECH sent Hart the mask, it

took him three days to paint il, he - sent it back-to them, and then Mhe.

waiting game hegan. But ‘Hart didn’t sit back ‘and wait for the phone toring. “T sent ITECH a portfolio of my work so they could see my

-Uhought processes. and: my “con

cepts,” he says.” The effort obviously patd off. “Pin really happy.

about -

Mark Hart

this,,.anything that happens now Is positive,’" : Hart is now in the process of

. erealing a file on. each: of - the

leams he inay- be: dealing, with in the future, He notes the team colors, Jogo,

~ and any idea which may help him

create a concept when and if he! s called on to Wo SO." :