SAND ROCK – Sand Rock senior Brody Robison caught his first fish when he was four years old. He said he hooked a little six-inch catfish, but the fish wasn’t the only thing that was hooked.
“It was enough to get the fire going in my soul,” Robison said.
That fire led him to become a high school angler, and now it’s earned him a scholarship with the top-rated fishing college in the nation.
Robison signed with the University of Montevallo on Tuesday. He becomes Sand Rock’s first angler to sign a college scholarship.
“Ever since I’ve heard about high school fishing in sixth and seventh grade, it’s always been something I’ve wanted to pursue,” Robison said. “We finally got a team started here. I’ve pursued a chance to go to college for it and that’s what we’ve done here. I’m very happy and very excited.”
So, too, is Montevallo’s Outdoor Scholars Program Director William Crawford.
“You talk with these kids on the phone and through social media, but to actually get them on campus and to sit down and talk with him and his family, right away you know when somebody is going to be a good fit,” Crawford said. “His personality gels well with what we have there, along with his fishing skill set. At the end of the day when they left campus, I was like ‘We’ve got to find a way to get him.’”
Robison’s father and Sand Rock fishing coach Daniel Robison is doubly proud of his son. He said he can remember the first time he took Brody fishing.
“We borrowed a boat from a friend,” Daniel Robison said. “It was raining, and I wanted to go home but he didn’t. He was like ‘Let’s just stay a little bit longer.’
“Time went on and we got a boat. It stayed the same. He never wanted to go home. He was always wanting to fish. As he got older, in the summertime we would take him down and put him in the lake and we would go to work. He would fish all day by himself. We’d pick him up when we got off work, which was usually at dark. That went on until he was old enough to drive.
“He’s put his heart and soul into it. We couldn’t be more proud.”
Brody Robison said he didn’t get into tournament fishing until he was 12 or 13, but there was just something about it that he “knew this was for me.”
“I didn’t belong on a baseball field or want to play football. Fishing is where I need to be,” he said. “I knew there was a very good chance of it. There’s so much opportunity in the college field, especially with this generation. I knew it was a good opportunity. I just had to work really hard for it.”
And work he did, and now he’s going to the premier collegiate fishing programs in the country.
“Year in and year out we have one of the best recruiting classes there is. To stay on top you’ve got to continue getting these good anglers,” Crawford said. “I feel like we’ve got a great group of guys and a great diversity amongst their fishing skills and what they can bring to the table. That’s what’s been big for us and the growth of our program over the last few years.”
“It’s the No. 1 fishing college in the nation. There isn’t a better opportunity on the table than going to Montevallo and being a part of the outdoor scholars program,” Brody Robison said. “I had a couple of different choices I was looking at, just a couple of colleges around the state. I talked to Mr. Crawford. I got in touch with him on social media over email and he was very welcoming. He invited me out. I got to tour the campus and come talk with him. I was just blown away. I was very impressed. It’s a great program they have and an awesome campus. It’s just a great opportunity.”
It’s a rare opportunity at that.
“They’re trying to recruit the best they can find, and we feel honored they chose Brody,” Daniel Robison said. “We want to see him be successful and move forward.”