_ When I last dragged my in- ‘| flatible over them, there were eleven log jams on the Lakelse River. ; Some consisted of littl more 7 than a half dozen logs and en “assortment of lesser sticks that [had piled up, on and against J.them. Others were massive --picces of random architecture, [-itwposing, daunting, and sure ‘Plo raise a heavy sweat during a ff long portage, There. are other rivers ‘in _ Skeena the size of the Lakeise, ‘but most have no fog jams at all and none seems to have as SManyerr -* Log jams are endlessly fas- “Cinaling: they move, they grow, they shrink; they: are ‘hurscrics for all manner.of in- “sects and juvenile fish, For ‘those reasons, they’re the best “place to look for big trout. J An angler.can spend hours ‘poking about in log jams look- “ing for flotsam and jetsam or “gazing between the interstices after the ghost-like forms of ‘fish, -- While a log jam is an in- convenience to a canocist, it canbe a boon to a hiker, espe- cially a hiking angler -- a serendiptious bridge providing access to the far side of the ‘river. | I was using a jam-as‘a foot bridge this May when the sun lit up something brilliant and green in the midst of the the structure. Butting up against a fallen.collon wood was a plug, a Hot Shot so-called, Dangling from its rear were the rusted remains ofa serious hook. ©. Since this kind of lure can’t

be cast, and nobody was likely to be still-fishing the upper sections of the river, 1 .wondered how this deadly bit of plastic had gotten so far up- stream. ,

' Fhe only explanation could be that it had gotten there via

‘them

The Skeena Angler

by Rob Brown

the only fish big enough to break that tow rope monofila- ment clinched to it, a chinook.

- {1 held the reptilian lure up to the sun and pictured a row of shimmering, diving, rising and rattling in the flow, attached to the lines of the fisherfolk sitting on the bridge straddling the lower Lakelse, a

Mile above the place where it

mects the Skecna.

I visualized a pod of chinook .

appearing, suddenly ~ then moving steadily through the

green shafts. of light, pushing -

smoothly upriver in response to ‘same ‘mysterious kind of biological radar.

I imagined one separating from’ the pack lo smash the garish intruder with bis power- ful, black jaws.

L imagined the formerly. quiet

gaggle of fishermen stirred to hysteria by the boil and splash of the big fish, then suddenly

‘slilled by the suap of the line

as the giant broke free.

Alter winning freedom; the big spring would have con- tinucd its journey upstream, the carloonish, red eyed, lure still hanging from its jaw.

Some weeks later the salmon would Lave begun excavating the gravel with sweeps of ils

powerful tail) A short time -

later it would have spawned. —

Chinook are packed with power, it’s one of the reasons men are drawn lo them. The

great fish, edged now ia while .

fungus, its fins frayed and flanks blackened, would prob- ably lave spent another two,

The lure of log jams

@

maybe three weeks buming off

surplus cnergy before its last dying shudder.

Then, gently, the low flows of Fall would have pushed the diminished, but still imposing carcass to a gravel strand where the gulls and fish crows would have picked oul ils eyes.

The gliding form of an cagle would, have ended the squab- bling of the lesser birds.

‘Alter the big bird had had ils

fill a weasel or martin or mink may lave made a meal of the remains, ’ Finally, the scavengers’ leav- ings must. have’ decomposed, leaving the plug on the beach until Fall rains filled the river selling the lure adrift over the cobo and trout of autumn.

Once or twice it may have gotten hung up again, maybe on the remains of a pink sal- non or against a sweeper.

But last year was a flood year when entire jams were dislodged and ‘deposited miles downstream,

Finally the battered plug was —

blocked by.the mammoth jam in the lower river where it rested over the still winter and the slow melt of spring until T found it.

It loaked out of place there. Besides it would have lasted forever. I hung the thing above my dash -- where teens who are now in middle age used to hang plush dice and other Irinkets -- where it now serves lo reminds me of a pleasant day near log jams.

Take note

There’s a change to the dates

for the Kermode IPSEC Shooters ‘

mect at the Terrace Rod and Gun in Thornhill.

The exent takes. place. |

tras urday. and Sunday, Aug. 22-23 {din Fait: to 2-p.m. both days. ©”

3 colors * Grey -% Green *. Brown

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$0. YD. Reg. 7.95

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TENNIS

Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 19, 1992 ~— Page C3

Gingles proves point

Kelly Gingles showed Aug. 8 just why he has been named the local tennis club’s most improved player in '92,

Playing in the Terrace Closed tournament, Gingles advanced to the A side finals in both the men’s singles and doubles. |

The win eluded him each time, but then the opposition was about as tough as it gels.

In the singles, Gingles tan into defending . champion. Richard Krieg] who took the title for the fifth consecutive ycar with a 6-3, G-1 straight sets victory.

The pair met again in the dow- bles where Kricg] teamed with Swarn Maun’ to sweep -Gingles and Matt Phillips 6-0, 6-0. .

However, it was not the

blowout the: score ‘suggests. “They played really well,” Kreg] agreed following — the match.

Jn mixed doubles A final action, Swarn and Fran Mann needed 12 games ta win Lhe first set but taok control in the second to knock off Krieg! aud Melita Bracken 7-5, 6- 3. , The. Mann’s have yet to be beaten in this event in the Terrace Closed. ~ .

Frau Maun was back in the win- ners circle again in the ladies doubles A final when she and partner Nancy Condon defeated Ada Sarsial and Gill Redpath two straight, 6-1, 6-2.

Mann and Condon were on op- posite sides of the net, however,

when it came to settling the ladies

champ, Mann made it three-for-ihree on

the day with a 6-0, 6-1 victory in’

the A final.

In B side men’s singles action, Grant Holkestad and Paul Picard played the match of the tourna- ment. :

Wilh point alter point involving long rallics, the pair look just over Iwo hours to setile the issue.

Noon

meet the

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FINAL TOUCHES. Brad Holmberg (left to right), Chuck Cey and Swam Mann were among. the members of the Terrace Tennis Club who turned up last Thursday night to put up the nets at the new Skeena View courts on Halliwell. The courts are open to the public as of this week.

Ultimately, Holkestad squeaked the win 7-6 on a tie-breaker and 7-5. ; Another. entertaining: final. was served up on the mixed doubles B side. Ada and Dave Sarsiat took the first set 6-3 only to. be stung 1-6 in the. second. by Gordon Woodd and Renata Weber.

That set up the rubber which went almost to the limit, the Sar- siats squeezing a 7-5 win for the match. _

In the pro sect ladies B singles

final Karen Appleton dropped Alayne “Fleischmann 8-2. Ap- pleton, however, came out on the wrong end in the ladies B doubles decider when: she and Cheryl Waitt fell to Eilecn Birkedal and Shicla Caddy 6-3, 6-4, . Time didn’t allow for the men’s doubles B final to take to the court but that match up is ex- pected lo be played next week. _ It will see Grant Holkestad and Rick Tabata team up against Paul Picard and Andrew Simpson.

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