This is the article published in “The Orcadian” .
On Friday the 3rd of June, a small group of very enthusiastic young anglers gathered on the shores of the Kirbister Loch for the first Orkney AFYD,(Angling for Youth Development), Competition, sponsored by the OTFA. AFYD is a relatively new initiative whose aim is to encourage more young people in to angling. They have been teaching fly dressing at the schools and some of the youngsters were actually fishing with flies they had tied themselves The group included 8 anglers from Kirkwall Grammar School, and four anglers who had travelled in from Stronsay School. This was a bank fishing only competition with only wellie boots allowed. This factor and the flat calm conditions at the start provided very testing conditions, but nothing could discourage these lads as they fished along the west shores of the loch.
The young anglers were encouraged and advised by their AFYD mentors, Neil Ewing, Antoine Pietre, Simon Hall, Jim Erskine and photographer for the day, Stuart Topp. Conditions did not improve as the day went on with the bright sunshine definitely putting the fish off. There were fish caught though and at the weigh in, Official Weigher Norman Irvine had to put numerous fish on the scales. The results were as follows, Winner of the Senior Fly Section and the Scorrabrae Cup was Jason Cook with a very commendable 3 fish. Winner of the Junior Fly Section was Craig Stout also with a great effort, landing 3 trout. Junior bait section winner was Steven Newlands who managed 1 fish. There was a fantastic selection of prizes and all competitors received something to remember their day. Many thanks to the businesses and individuals who donated prizes and their time to what was a brilliant and rewarding day for all concerned, especially, W Shearer’s, Kirkwall, WS Sinclair’s, Stromness, Glasgow Angling Centre and Gilbert Archer.
The hope is to expand the net as it were in the future and include more of Orkney’s Schools and youngsters into a past time which they can enjoy for years to come, come on dads out there, take them fishing!
KK
