Scorecard

OUR PRESIDENT, WIN, LOSE OR TIE

On the eve of the Democratic convention, while Teddy Kennedy was plotting to wrest the nomination from him in New York, what was Jimmy Carter doing? Fly-fishing near Camp David. Last weekend, the convention over and his nomination secured, the President again went fly-fishing, this time on Spruce Creek outside Franklin, Pa., a secret hideaway of his that, thanks to a story in the Altoona Mirror, is no longer secret. Something else now out in the open is this: the President is so smitten that he recently starting tying his own flies.

A couple of weeks ago, even as his ratings in the polls were sinking to alltime lows and the controversy over Billy Carter was swirling about him, the President spent four hours of a Saturday afternoon visiting with a dozen prominent anglers and fly tyers on the lawn of the home of Tom McFadden, the superintendent of Catoctin Mountain Park, which includes Camp David. It was a very informal show-and-tell session, topped off by a picnic lunch of hamburgers, corn on the cob, grits and salad.

Carter inspected some handsome bamboo rods brought by Tom Maxwell of H.L. Leonard Rod, Inc. and Frank Thompson, a rod collector from Beltsville, Md. He chatted with John Randolph, managing editor of Fly Fisherman. He watched Eric Leiser, author of Fly-Tying Materials and proprietor of The Rivergate, a fly-fishing shop in Cold Spring, N.Y., tie a Chuck Caddis. The President admitted he had trouble tying both the Muddler Minnow and the Irresistible. When he tied a Muddler, the wings kept slipping off to the side, while the deer-hair tail on the Irresistible had a way of flaring instead of lying straight. Leiser showed Carter how to solve both problems with the tying thread. "The Muddler and the Irresistible are both advanced flies," Leiser says. "They're not for beginners. The President's really interested in fly tying. If he were in Cold Spring he'd be a regular at our Thursday night sessions."

In fact, Carter was so absorbed in tying that McFadden had to interrupt to warn him that the hamburgers were getting cold. After lunch, two accomplished flycasters, Barry Beck and Ed Shenk, demonstrated casting techniques. Vince Marinaro, author of A Modern Dry Fly Code and a strikingly innovative tyer of realistic flies, drew a presidential chuckle when he said, "My imitations are made love to by every bug in the country." Everyone eventually went indoors, where Jim Gilford, a former professor of biology at nearby Hood College, showed color slides of aquatic insects in Big Hunting Creek, which flows near Camp David. According to one of those present, the President told the gathering that if there were anything he could do for the cause of clean water, he'd like to know and he'd be happy to help. He also confessed he finds fly tying rejuvenating. When Leiser at one point remarked, "Tying is very relaxing after a tough day," Jimmy Carter replied, "We all have one of those now and again."

FACING THE MUSIC
Thwarted, at least for the moment, in their acrimonious, much-publicized effort to bolt to Los Angeles, the Oakland Raiders are playing once again in Oakland Coliseum. Because of delays caused by legal maneuvers over their attempted move to L.A., the Raiders were three months late in processing season-ticket applications, and when they finally got around to that task, they found Oakland fans openly bitter about the club's intended defection. To make matters worse, the Raiders looked dreadful in losing their preseason opener at San Francisco, 33-14. Last Saturday night they faced the music at home—and beat New England 31-29. Attendance was announced as 41,649, but some press-box observers suspected that the real figure was less than 40,000. Even as announced, it was the smallest turnout for a Raider game in six years.

WHITETAILS, FLAMING LOCKS

Based on Ben Feder's experience, deer hunters would be advised to shave their heads before stalking game, especially if they frequent fancy hair salons. It seems that deer don't go for well-tended locks. Mind you, Feder isn't a hunter himself. He's a real-estate man and a vintner whose Clinton Vineyards Seyval Blanc is among the choicest of New York white wines. And until recently he was beset by whitetails that hung around his 100-acre farm in Clinton Corners, N.Y. and grazed on the vines.

Feder might have spread chicken wire on the ground, which some similarly vexed farmers do on the theory that deer don't like stepping on it. Or he might have hung out old clothes, a trick other farmers resort to in hopes the human scent will drive off the animals. But Feder insists that human hair is the most effective repellent. He doesn't use just any old hair, either. He gets his tresses from Kenneth, the Manhattan hair stylist who coifs the likes of Jackie O., Lauren Bacall and, when the couple is staying at their New York City apartment, Feder's wife, Kathy.

"Basically it's clean hair because Kenneth doesn't cut until after it's been shampooed," says Feder. "Then it's all swept up from the floor and put in big garbage bags for us. We make a twist of it and tie it in clumps on low wire 12 inches off the ground and place it every 20 feet or so. This year we've used more hair than ever before, and we've suffered the least damage." Feder couldn't say whether the shampoo Kenneth uses might in any way help repel the deer or whether the animals could be simply too dazzled to feed; as he notes, "The hair comes in all colors—flaming red, white, golden blonde, blue." In any event, the man who supplies the hair seems just as impressed by the results as Feder is. Says Kenneth happily, "Do you think this can be marketed nationally?"