"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" 20 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, July 24, 2001 ISLAN TAXI Dos PRR any 905 985-taxi (8294) Netminder hoping to catch a ride with the Otters Port Perry's Thomas Lee making plans to play for the OHL's Erie Otters By Chris Hall Port Perry Star Thomas Lee is busy preparing for the upcoming hockey season, and he hopes Stouffville won't be part of those plans. While he enjoyed a successful year with the Provincial Junior A Stouffville Spirit last season, the I6-year-old Port Perry resident is hoping to catch on with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League when the 2001-2002 campaign opens this fall. Drafted by the Otters in the 11th round (218th overall) of the midget priority draft last year, Thomas was placed with Stouffville where he got a chance to showcase his abilities between the pipes in 21 games. "He ended up playing a number of games and he had a good season," said Steve Lee, Thomas' father. "They were quite happy with him, but he's hoping he doesn't end up back there this year. He wants to move up." In fact, the odds are good Thomas will be suiting up for the Erie squad, says his dad. "He's going to have a good chance to catch on down there. Their one goalie down there is an over- ager (21 years old; teams can only have a limited number of players of that age), and they don't usual- ly bring back older goalies. They save those spots for forwards," said Mr. Lee. Also. working in Thomas' favour is the fact that Adam Munro, the Otters starting netminder last year, was picked up by the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks during the NHL's entry draft last month. "We're all hoping he can step up this year and get on with Erie. Hopefully he can make the squad as the backup goalie and get some experience there," said Mr. Lee. Helping him catch on with the Erie Otters just may be the experience he accumulated recently when he joined Team Canada for an Under-17 tournament in Moscow. For one week in May, Thomas and most of his fam- ily made the trip to Russia where he took part in the prestigious Tretiak Cup, in honour of legendary Russian netminder Vladimir Tretiak. Thomas was scouted by coach John Neville at one of his games with the Spirit, and was invited to join the team, made up of some of the best Junior A play- ers from across the Greater Toronto Area. During the round-robin tournament, Team Canada faced off against the legendary Red Army team of Russia, as well as Elektra and national teams from France, Belarus and Lafia. Thomas played in two games; the other three by Matt George of the Markham Islanders. The Canadian team lost only once, 6-4 to the sto- ried Red Army squad, but still only collected the bronze medal. Final standings were decided by wins Turn to Page 21 After playing one year in goal for the Junior A Stouffville Spirit, Port Perry's Thomas Lee, 16, is hop- ing to catch on with the Ontario Hockey League's Erie By J. Wally Nesbitt On June 30 the newly created Ontario Super Latemodel Racing series made its debut appearance at Mosport Speedway. Under threatening skies, four drivers, Derek Henderson, Shane Maginnis, Darragh Moroney and Derek Lynch managed to claim victories in the preliminary heat races but the 50 lap feature had to be postponed when the threat became a reality and rain washed out the evening's activities. Three weeks later (July 21), the OSLR cars completed their assign- ments as 19 Super Late Models battled at Mosport's fast half-mile oval in quest of the Darryl's Auto Centre (Oshawa) winner's trophy. Motor City residents Derek Henderson (#17) and Terry Robichaud (#38) led the pack to the green flag with Robichaud grabbing the early lead. On the third circuit, former Mosport Street Stock cham- New racing series debuts at Mosport pion Henderson squeezed under- neath Robichaud's Camaro exiting turn four to take over the top spot with Dundas' Shane Maginnis mov- ing up into second place three laps later. Derek Lynch (#15), who had started the sprint from mid-pack worked his way through the field and up into third place by lap nine and then he, along with Henderson and Maginnis formed a small break- away pack. Running in tandem until Turn to Page 21 Otters. The team drafted him in the 11th round in 2000. Finesse | Fishing By Chris Hockley Fishing weedy Lake Scugog Last week | introduced a number of different terms and structures concerning weed fishing. These were specific areas to look for fish. This week | am going to take it one step further and talk about a few basic techniques that will increase your weed fishing success. Here is a list of some of the more com- , | mon types of weeds in Lake Scugog and some of the more common and effective ways to fish them: Cattails/Bullrushes - Although You ¢ can catch musky and walleye in and around cattails and bullrushes, these are gener- bi. J ally a bass specific weed type. The spring and low light fishing are the best times for species other than bass. Largemouth and sometimes even small- mouth will call these areas home for the entire fishing season. Ideally, look for weeds that are not rooted to the bottom of the lake. Undercuts and floating matts of bullrush- es are known as big fish areas. Work your way up to these weeds by fan casting spinnerbaits and crankbaits. When you get within 30 feet of these weeds, begin pitching Texas-rigged offer- ings and flipping jigs. Sometimes you will have to get closer and flip 10 or 15 feet back into pockets. Cover the water slow- ly and completely. "Eel Grass - These are those pesky lime green weeds that grow up and lay on the surface of the water. Pesky, only if ycu aren't fishing them properly. Look for bass and musky in these areas. The shade provided by the laydowns on the surface can be deceiving. There is virtually no cover underneath. This makes these areas an effective place for active fish to feed. Weedless topwater baits, slug-style baits and weedless spoons with either a plastic or pork trail- er are excellent here. If you are only spooking fish then slow down and throw Texas-rigged worms. Lily Pads - All pads are not created equal. Look for bass in pads that have plenty of cover in the form of wood or coontail in and around them. As long as there is enough water to cover their backs, bass are happy in the pads. Cast spinnerbaits to the edges and pockets, and weedless topwater baits over the top of the pads. Slow down and fan cast to the inside of the area using plastic worms and flipping jigs . One other great bait for the pads are shallow diving crankbaits such as Mann's Baby N-1. You didn't hear that one from me though. Coontail - These bushy looking weeds are abundant throughout all of Lake Scugog. They grow to form cover on flats and emerge to form thick matts. This weed type is home to just about every living thing in the lake. Look for clumps, weedlines, pockets in four to eight feet of water and throw spinnerbaits, crankbaits, buzzbaits, slug-o's and worms around the submerged coontail for lively bass, musky and walleye action. Rip jigging is also a productive technique. Switch to weedless topwaters, jigs and worms for the emergent coontail. Cabbage Weed - Cabbage grows in patches that can be incredibly produc- tive. They grow much the same as coon- tail except they don't fill in or emerge to form thick matts. Cabbage weeds are thin but tough, large-leafed weeds. You can often see the dark tips of these weeds protruding the surface of the water. Fish these exactly as you would submerged coontail. Rip jigging with bucktails or jigging cabbage with three-inch white grubs are great techniques. Boat safely and good fishing! Drop by my web site at www.blitzcreek.com or drop me a line at blitzcreekprofishing@hotmail.com. ee ® sh OB ss sass se ass sansa aaasan PU EE TE TE I SRE SE IE I I BE