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S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 3 0 danger posed by grizzlies that were fishing the same river. In fact, Jack had a run-in with a grizzly one afternoon. After several hours of fishing he'd secured his stringer of fish to the bank and then taken a nap under a tree. A grizzly saw this as an opportunity for a free meal. As luck would have it, Jack woke up just as the bear went after the fish, and he was able to roll away and take cover, unseen by the preoccupied bruin. At one of their camps, a grizzly had come around Chas' tent and was on the verge of attacking the sleeping man whose feet were protruding from the tent. If it hadn't been for the quick thinking of Vern, who saw the bear's approach from his own tent, it could have been disastrous night. Vern was able to grab his shotgun and fired at the bear before it grabbed the unsuspecting Chas. He wasn't sure if he'd hit the bear, but the sound of the shot sent the bruin on its way. The men were on constant alert for the opportunistic brown and black bears as they canoed upriver and camped along the way. But they were totally unprepared for being stalked by a grizzly. A t two separate camps that were miles apart, the same grizzly had watched them from the opposite streambank. The bear was easily identified because O ver the years there have been many stories of how grizzlies, particularly in Alaskan rivers, have protected their food source with deadly ferocity. Unfortunately, few fishermen realize the speed of a grizzly—even when running through water an adult bear can reach an astonishing speed of 50 feet-per-second. An unsuspecting fisherman would stand no chance of out- running or avoiding a determined attack by a bear. Such was the case in 1915 when a man was mauled by a grizzly while fly-fishing an Alaska stream. His body was found some time later in his cabin deep in the forest. It was clearly evident he'd been mortally wounded by a bear. After the attack, he had somehow made his way back to his cabin where he died from his injuries. Such incidents were common in the early part of the 20th century. But few stories can compare to one remarkable incident that took place in 1928 along the Stiking River straddling the Alaskan/British Columbia border. Three men, Vern and his companions Jack and Chas, had canoed north from Prince Rupert to hunt and fish the wilderness area. They had established their bush camp along a river where an abundance of good timber provided fuel for the camp and where they could enjoy the good hunting and fishing. The men were well aware of the egends of the Hunt L of a light patch of fur on one side. When the men changed camps and traveled farther upriver, they noticed that the bear had continued to move with them. The grizzly's unusual behavior left the men both John Seery-Lester Most Alaska anglers know that sharing a salmon stream with a grizzly or black bear can be extremely dangerous—even deadly.