Sportfish customer 13 year old, Dylan Mcrobert writes about how he got into fishing, and his love for the sport.
What I love about Fishing by Dylan Mcrobert
"I was a wee thing when I first went fishing in a burn near home in Dalbeattie in Scotland and caught a few nice brownies. I’ve fished ever since!
My first boat fishing trip was on Loch Roan. It was heaving it down with snow and blowing of gale and dad and I were fishing from a boat. We endured the unpredictable weather and I was rewarded with a stunning blue trout which I landed on a black and green nomad."
"I joined our local fishing association in Dalbeattie where I took part in the monthly medal. This saw me compete against adults – many of who were a lot more experienced than me.
I competed each month for 7 months and came 3rd overall. I was so happy and that was it, I was hooked on fly fishing! I soon came first in the juniors and received my first ever fishing trophy.
Another memorable day I had was on a night fishing session with my dad. It was 2am and it was really windy. I couldn’t tell if I was getting bites or not - the rods were bouncing so much with the waves! Soon though we started catching fish, and I caught three bass, a thorn back and a nice smooth hound. My dad caught 4 bass and a thorn back.
On a return trip to the same venue I had gone to grab the forceps for a 3lb bass I had just caught and when I got back my rod bent double. It was a giant and dad had to hold me by the jumper so I didn’t fall in!
It took about 30 minutes to bring in because it was so big - it was the length of my leg! Dad weighed it and it was a whopping 12lb! I was chuffed to bits – it was better than Christmas morning!"
"I’ve had some fantastic fly fishing trips, but the best day of my life was catching my first salmon (or two)! After fishing and waiting for two whole years, I caught my first salmon on the Hoddom Beat on the River Annan.
Me and my dad walked down the river and we found this nice spot where we started fishing. I wasn’t even 20 casts in, and I hooked into a salmon! At first, I thought it was a nice brownie but then it took off like a train up the river and I knew it was a salmon. She ran up the river taking line but eventually coming into the side and dad netted her."
"After standing in total disbelief dad got the scales and weighed her and she was a cracking 18lb! I caught her on an orange Flying C. After releasing her we started fishing again.
I changed my spinner to an orange Bucktail and on my first cast - boom! Another salmon! It fought better than my last one and we finally got it into the side and dad netted it again.
I couldn’t believe I’d caught two salmon after 2 years trying on so many different rivers! We weighed it and it was 12lb! I was so happy and I will never forget the day I caught 2 salmon!
My future fishing plans include trying out for the Scottish Fly Fishing Team, and obviously catching more salmon. I hope you enjoyed reading my story and I hope it’s inspired you to try it or take your children / grandchildren!"
Update: In 2023 Dylan entered a qualifier to fish for his country and, not only was he awarded Best Newcomer to competition fishing, but he also qualified to join the 2024 Scotland International Fly Fishing Youth Team.
Everyone here at Sportfish wish Dylan well and we look forward to following his fishing career. We will keep you updated!
Do you know of any young anglers who could be inspired by Dylan's story or are you a young angler with your own story? If so, either share this article or get in contact with us at sportfish@sportfish.co.uk and you could feature too!