Murray Williams
He’s a Springbok fisherman, with a story to tell. Seven years ago, a 10-year-old Somerset West boy inherited some fly fishing gear from his grand-father.
Kieran Robson had already been fishing for seven years, since he was just three years old. Mainly bass fishing, and a taste of salt-water surf-fishing at the Strand.
One day in 2013 he took his late grandpa’s old gear down to his local river, the Lourens… and was hooked.
Kieran was home-schooled in the Somerset West suburb of Morningside, at the top end of the valley near Morgenster, Vergelegen and Lourensford wine estates.
“A very kind gentleman by the name of John Watt, who lives close to the river and is also an avid fly angler, took me under his wing and helped me out with books, tying equipment, and so on. He was also a great motivation,” Kieran told Bolander.
Being a self-learner by nature, Kieran soaked up every possible gem of advice from anglers around the world, from their books and videos – progressing on a steep learning curve.
He joined the Boland Association in 2014 and went to his first national championships, held in Limpopo, as part of the Boland C Team, and was placed 20th out of some 60-odd anglers.
In 2015 he stepped up a gear, and represented the Boland B-Team at the Nationals, held in the Rhodes region of the Eastern Cape, and placed seventh.
This placing in the “top 16” earned him an invitation to the Protea trials, held in December at the Du Toits Lodge close to Worcester. Here he again struck the magic number seven place, and national South African colours.
Kieran has now been invited, as part of the Protea Junior team, to the 2016 World Youth Championships, to be held in the Galicia province of Spain between Monday August 8 and Saturday August 13.
The costs of such a trip are enormous and could be prohibitive and so, in an effort to raise funds, a raffle is being held to assist in this regard.
The prize is a two-night stay for two in a suite at the Cullinan Hotel in Cape Town, dinner and breakfast included.
The prize is valued at R15 000. The tickets are R100 each, and numbers will be limited. The draw will take place on Saturday June 25.
If you would like to stand a chance of winning this prize, as well as helping Kieran get to world championships, you can contact Gavin on 084 280 4458, or email gavinrbsn 66@gmail.com for banking details.
Companies that may want to contribute can also make contact with Gavin.
