B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 2, 2005 MARGARET SPEIRS SKEENA ANGLER | ROB’BROWN Help in unlikely places here are some fine book a on Pend- floors that creck underfoot like the planks -on the old sailing ships that carried Cap- tain George to the shores of this* place’ that later grew into the city that.now bears his name. ~ “These craft-are small; their aisles few and nar- row,dramatically different in scope, scale and in- tent from the coffee-scented big box boats of the Borders and Chapters lines that now cruise shop- . ping lanes in the centre of town. ‘There are no CDs here, none of latest magazines, no meals to be had, no T-shirts or book bags, no ag- . gressive promos or noon hour concerts. Used treasure and trash — but mainly treasure - _awaiting discovery — are their cargoes and they are captained. by curmudgeons who know the value of their freight and-yield it grudgingly. Twas waiting for a bus alongside one of these when a rickety sale table caught my eye. There was - No bus ‘in sight, affording me enough time for a | - quick rummage: / Under a tattered copy of Dickens”? Mayor of _Casterbridge I found small hardbound, text with .} Thirty-Four Ways to Casta Fly on its spine. Inside -the cover the vendor had’scrawled “$1.00” in pen- cil. For that price, a guy can take a chance. I took a seat in the back of the bus and scruti-_ nized.my purchase. There was a black and white , picture of its author, John G. Lynde, in hipboots “with a bamboo rod leaning against him, examining kbisflybox : beside:'a: placid pool.:I‘ flipped the’ page ” _ and read the foreward. “Few people,” its author wrote, “are better equipped than Mr. Lynde to undertake this intri- cate exposition. An outstanding caster himself and a fisherman of long experience, Mr. Lynde learned under some of the great English masters and was himself a professional teacher of flycasting for sev- en years.” I flipped that leaf and discovered that the fore- ward had been penned by none other than Roderick Haig-Brown in June of 1967. It was the only en- dorsement the book carried, in contrast to the thou- sands of how-to ‘books and video cassettes than fill the shelves of bookstores and supermarkets every- where. It was the only endorsement I needed. . Over the next few weeks I studied Lynde’s man- ual assiduously, translating cach paragraph into action on the back lawn and then on the stream, a process made casy thanks to Lynde’s precise, un- cluttered. prose; honesty unselfish words written with the intention of imparting knowledge expedi- tiously. Lynde, it soon became apparent, understood his subject and how best to teach it. Alf casts are de- rived fromthe roll cast and the overhead cast, he Writes, so, logically, he begins there, insisting on a very specific stance and laying out each step me- thodically. ; Very quickly, I realized that my casting tech- nique, which I thought was pretty good, was ad- equate; at best. . _ With the use of. Lynde’ $ program it improved “quickly. After covering roll and overhead casting, Lynde moved on to Spey casting with a single- handed rod, explaining that it was the. most logi- cal way to proceed since the Spey cast is a more clean cut, “more decisive and more sophisticated offshoot of the roll cast” that enabled the angler to change the direction of his fly on the move. As in all of Lynde’s instruction, his directions for. Spey casting proceed from a very solid stance. The arms are held close to the body. During the ex- ecution of the casting stroke. they stay close. and Lynde is always careful to ‘describe their path in reference to parts of the angler’s anatomy. I have to admit that I skipped a few chapters to get to the one dealing with what Lynde calls “salm- on fly casting,” or casting the two-handed rod. I gripped the butt of: my 15-foot rod with my Ieft hand, the top of the corks with the right and, hold- ing my right arm tight to the body, cast the line be- hind me describing a small arc from.my side to my _ solar plexus until the rod hit my shoulder. The. line shot out behind me in a beautiful arc. I watched it, as Lynde had instructed. ‘Holding the butt to my gut, I pushed the rod for- ward by extending my forearm then watched spell-. “pound as the best cast I'd made to date shot out over _ the Skeena, As Lynde predicted, it was almost ef- 'fortless. Using that foundation, I was able to execute well formed double and single Spey casts in no time. When I began flubbing casts, I simply revert- ed to Lynde’s postures and things began running smoothly again. My Spey casting problems were solv ed at last. thanks to a little book written by someone who knew and understood and put the profit to others above the profit of book sales. er Street: musty places all, with wooden’ a TRAIL'S DEVL IN rink. sweeps their way y into the house during the second ‘draw at the BC Senior Men's Provincial Curling Championships at the Terrace Arena Feb. 25. The team was one of eight who travelled to town for the first-senior men's provincials held here. BC Senior Men’s “Curling Provincials roll into town . By MARGARET SPEIRS THE BC Senior Men’‘s. Provincial Curling Championship swept into town for the first time bringing cight teams ‘from around the province last w cekend, 7 Chairperson John Evans said the event rolled off to’a fantastic start on Feb, 25. “E's going to be probably the best level of curl- ing we've seen here for over 20 years,” he said. “We've always had a very good core of vol-. unteers and we’re very fortunate for that because [we can] put on a first class presentation.” ’ A host and driver cared for each team over the weekend, Evans said. Terrace Curling volunteered scorekeepers, ref erees and line officials, and the organizing com- mittee headed fund raising and media relations. “It's been ongoing. We were awarded this over a year ago,” Evans said. “H's been a lot of work but is worthwhile to see it all come together.” needed to'be perfectly tevel. surface the ice perfectly. 8 . better than normal conditions.” level,.Evans said. en & depending where it’s Talstra, declared open. J WHA yuskt MOAN qMee one TERRACE RAINCOAST Ringers reigned victorious as champions of the Petite C division in the Kelowna Sweetheart Tournament over the Feb. 11 weekend. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Ringers: petite champions and tourney ‘sweethearts’ RAINCOAST RINGERS came, . plaved*and conquered in the Kelowna Sweetheart Tournament, taking ‘the win over Valentine's Day weekend. The ringette team went undefeated, winning the Petite C Division, which in- cluded eight other teams. In the round robin, they beat Enderby- Armstrong, Vernon and Vancouv er. Semifinal action saw them = skunk Kelowna [ 1-0. . ‘Tournament of tarts’ ‘| clean sweep for Terrace “They toppled Quesnel 9-2 in the final game. Coach Roger Tooms said the team couldn’t be beaten. “Terrace simply outplayed their oppo- nents throughout cach game. They. never Ict up.” he said. “The kids played with their hearts and it was: their desire to play the game that paid off. The coaching staff and the families are very proud of their effort.“ THE LADIES Valentine ice with the competition, C- event and Inez. Lopez. fin- Bonspicl, nicknamed the — topping all four events. ‘ished second. ‘tournament oof starts The D-event went to Joan crowned the new queens on ice at the conclusion of the three-day tourney at the B-event honours went to Terrace Curling Club Feb. Helen Joseph and second 13. place Fay Sparks. Terrace rinks swept the Lynne Apolezer took the Kathie Simpson won the A-event followed by second spot Cheryl Wyatt. Lynn Gascon. The 49th edition of the event saw 29 rinks take part. including five teams from out of town. ‘He said the ice conditions were. very good and “That's the icémakers’ job. Hé’s doing things a little differently,” Evans said about icemaker Shaunce Kruisselbrink who was working hard to “We have to pay attention to make sure it's The reaction of the rocks shows if the ice is Every rock acts differently with its weight and thrown on the sheet. The opening ceremonies kicked off last Friday with all the rinks following piper Drew McKay into the arena and lining up on sheet A. After welcoming remarks from Mayor Jack Terrace Curling. Association president David D. Hull and Interior Region 6 regional rep for Curl BC Gord Judzentis, the provincials were Otto Lindstrom threw the first rock and Steve Kutenics and Bud Hallock swept it to” Talstra, who held the broom. * |, The rinks marched out and took turns wi arming up for thé second draw. Kitimat’s Maksymetz rink represented I Interior: Region 6, our local region. Evans said the team has a lot of experience with skip Rick Maksymetz having competed in ..! the Brier in 1982 and two national mixed cham- pionships. ; ; He competed here against former Brier team- mate Dennis Graber, who skipped the Kamloops rink from Interior Region 7, “I think their chances are very good,” Evans said of the Kitimat rink. “Curling’s a funny game. There's a lot of men- tal attitude there. If you can get ona roll, you can be unbeatable. “If things don’t work, it’s tough to puta good game together,” Sport Scope Kucharyshen and second to” - Peewees rock Rupert _ TERRACE RIVER Industries Peewee Rep team destroyed Prince Rupert and finally beat Smithers last month. . They shellacked Prince Rupert 15-2 and 14-4 on Feb. [1 and 12. On the previous Saturday, the team lost to Smithers 8-4 but came back on Sunday to win 5-4, The team travels to Smithers for zones March.5 o! Thornhill takes on the zones A COUPLE of close games for Thornhill Jr. girls and boys basketball in their zone playoffs in Smithers recently. The boys lost both of their games but not for lack of try- ing. They lost to Hazelton 47-32 on Feb, (8, in their second game the next day. the Queen Charlotte Islands narrowly beat them 48-47. Tyler Clarke hit the net for 30 points and was voted MVP, The boys finished in sixth place. The Junior girls beat Houston 41-17. lost their second and 6. “game to Nisga’a 31-26 and lost to Ebenezer Christian 30-2 “Kate Dempster was named to the All-Star team. ‘Alleza Schmidt won the free throw shooting skills com- petition. Coach Denis Burnip said his team did “excellent” and was “extremely spirited and never gave up." The girls finished fourth overall in the B-zone. Peaks top fitness challenge TERRACE PEAKS gymnasts scored first in their Fitness Challenge held to celebrate Gymnastics Week on Feb. 17. The athletes: challenged nine community teams to show strength. agility, and perseverance in a rope climb, tuck jumps, straddle jumps on the fast trac trampoline. blindfold- ed balance beam, push ups. chin ups and an obstacle course ending with a swim ina foam pit. First place went to the Peaks” Tumblebunnies, second to the Terrace Fire Dept. and third to the Peaks’ Dolphins. Summer hockey camp YOUNG hockey players still have time to sign up for Lou Lemire’s Summer Hockey Skills Camp. . The camp, which runs Aug. 2+ to 27, will offer two ice sessions. There will also be dry land training, a chalk talk and two intensive specialized shooting and defence clinics for an extra charge. The last day w itl feature a final game and a pizza and pop party. The instructors, all professional teachers, have played at the Junior A level or higher. Registration is being taken until March 31 at the parks and recreation office. For more info, call Carol Wall at 615-3025. 638-7283 we ee er eee - eae