So the season to forget is already forgotten. I have spoken with most of the Ghillies and it really has been tough going. there were a few highlights but numbers are not worth mentioning because it was all about the weather and conditions which took control for all the wrong reasons. The fishing did not really have much of a chance as dry weather took a firm hold on the whole season. Not much lessons were learned apart from anglers having good practice with light tackle micro flies and hitches. The good news is that anglers are always full of optimism and season 2026 is fast approaching.

But, there is still some great fishing to be had on the likes of the Tweed especially where some monster crocks will be landed for sure with around 2 months still to go so don’t pack up the fishing gear quite yet.

Helmsdale Co will be on annual leave from Oct 4th so no orders can be processed until Friday 17th October. Apologies if this affects your fly plans but please still feel free to order anytime if you have fishing after the 17th and we will make sure you still get our deadly flies on our return.

Some stunning autumn tubes below you can order online and we will tie up on our return for you.

RS UV Deep Red Loop bottle tubes

RS Solar Monkey reds on a selection of coneheads, below are FL orange & black. These amazing tubes are around 3" long and unbelievable in good water, luckily the rains are here so the season should end well for a good few rivers.

And don't forget our awesome autumn set for a superb price with one free fly too....at only £19.95

One last thing, we are putting together a lovely salmon anglers hamper for Christmas, look out for it here soon as it will be unique and the perfect gift for the salmon angler who has everything, it will be very tasty and practical, with nibbles, drinks and our world renowned salmon flies, a fabulous gift instead of the usual fishing socks, hats, gloves and vouchers etc!

Tight lines

Ron

It has been one of the worst seasons in living memory for water and obviously sport! Even the huge catchement of dammed water could not rescue the season as it has done many times in the past due to such a extraordinarily dry spring.

The river rose to 1ft 7 and around 20 were caught but I have not heard of anything special, there is more rain to come so the fishing should keep ticking over for tha last few days of the season.

There has been some grand fishing on the Spey & Tweed from what I can gather as they had more water a little earlier than the Northern rivers so there are still plenty of salmon to be caught yet especially on the rivers that are open throughout October and November so we have put together another small but very tasty autumn salmon fly set of 6 for you with one free thrown in for 7. Beautiful Rs SuperSquids, Red Snaeldas, Red Posh Monkeys and a Red Bobby tube all for just £19.95

Check them out below, a deadly autumn set that will definitely catch salmon for you. Grab a set right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-autumn-6-1-fly-free

There is not much to write about on the fishing front I'm afraid as there has been no fresh water and the river Helmsdale is low just like most apart from a few that have had some flash floods with scattered thunderstorms. There are still plenty of fish to get caught yet because the rain will come, it always does, and when it gets the river up and flowing hard again there will be good sport.

On a more exciting front Ron has been designing another superb new salmon pattern to add to the great autumn patterns we already have. RS TigerTails made a huge splash onto the salmon scene a number of years ago when Ron made the design crossover from trout Zonker style to salmon flies into a deadly aggressive range of tubes and doubles.

The latest is the new RS UV Autumn TigerTail which is a stunning blend of very cool design, striking colour and wicked profile. and ofcourse, predominantly red. Options are numerous in conehead, doubles and copper tube and this fly is ready to explode onto the autumn salmon scene as soon as the rain gets our rivers going again.

So, as you will see from the pics below, these flies are truly unique which is something the Helmsdale Company always delivers as we relentlessly keep chasing perfection. Grab some of these stunners as soon as you see them as our tying list will be very busy and once we run out of our Tiger strips of red/black zonker the flies will be taken offline until we are lucky enough to purchase some more materials for next years autumn range.

We are also tying these in a mix of the best sub Junglecock and larger natural as the natural supply is non existent at the moment for smaller junglecock. I have no problem with the sub Jc as we have had massive feedback on salmon caught on sub JC flies and ofcourse so many flies have no JC like the Cascade fly so does it make a difference at all? not for me, these flies are stunning with both types.

You can view and buy all the options right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

Gold conehead....

FL Red conehead

Copper tube

Patriot double

Set in our Perfect Tubefly Box

Partnering with https://salmonfishingholidaysscotland.com/

Latest fishing report below.... We are currently offering a super Summer deal with a "Buy 2 get one fly free" on 3 of our best summer flies. To get your free flies simply click on the links below and buy at least 2 to get 1 more free, if you buy 4 you get 2 free etc

RS Solar Flamethrower gold double 8, 10 & 12s click here to buy - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-solar-flamethrower-patriot-double-pro-choice.html

RS Cascade Firetail gold double 8, 10, 12 & 14s. Click here to buy - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-cascade-firetail.html

RS Willie Gunn Firetail gold double 8, 10, 12 & 14s. Click here to buy - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-willie-gunn-firetail.html

The water arrived but the fish did not in any serious numbers. The last week in July has been explosive many times in the past and hopes were for a repeat of the same this year but it was not to be. The beats picked away and the Association water did the same but numbers were nowhere near what might have been expected.

Parts of the Spey on the other hand just across the firth had some phenomenal fishing with one beat on the lower river registering over 100 fish for the week. Going forwards who knows what will happen but let’s hope that the rain keeps topping things up so that if there are still decent runs of fresh fish to come at least they will have free passage, we do not want any more drought conditions.

With the classic summer conditions well in charge and a grilse run on, the early starters are making the most of the sport along with those that fish once the sun goes down.

The river produced around 40 - 50 fish last week with around a dozen of those off the Association water. The forecast is to cool down a little so the fishing will only improve next week, it may be the peak week of the season so don't hang around if you are deciding when to fish. The Helmsdale will always have water due to the dam so it will be fishable when many rivers are not.

We have the absolute perfect selection of flies if you are fishing the Helmsdale or in the area, check out our new "RS Helmsdale summer Top ten" which are ready for immediate delivery!

You can buy them right now right here at a fabulous discount price of only £29.99 - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

The Helmsdale rose to 2ft on the Salscraggie gauge and the excitement reached fever pitch but the river only managed to produce a disappointing 18 - 20 salmon for the week. The sea-trout arrived also and most took the chance to speed up the river and some of the burns but, there have been some very nice ones caught along the way. Phillip Marshall landed the biggest at 6lbs on the Association water where numerous others in the 1 - 3lbs category have been caught at night.

2 weeks on from the spate and things are not looking too good yet, only a few grilse and some sea-trout are giving moderate sport so hopefully in the next few weeks the main summer run will quickly build and July will save a rather dour season so far.

We have all the flies you need ofcourse, especially RS Baby Tds, Cascade and Willie Gunn Firetails and don't forget to have some Alistairs at the ready, we have our Baby TD Alistairs back in stock. And, we have a very special new set of summer flies available in a set or individially. New RS UV SuperStoat doubles, coneheads, hitch and micro tubes. You can see them all below....if you cannot catch summer salmon and seatrout with the stunning flies mentioned above then there is no hope!

We are also now adding reels and great fly pics regularly to our Instagram and facebook pages so you can find and follow us there, please feel free to sign up also to our regular newsletter where you will get the first chance see our latest offers and new flies etc - sign up easily right here by simply adding your email address - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/newsletter-registration.html

Grab a set of these deadly RS UV flies right here along with other favourites - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

The Helmsdale has had another very quiet week. The run of bigger fish is now almost over so the grilse are next to come. It’s a little early for that yet but the river has caught some of the rain this weekend and risen to around 2ft on the gauge. This is a hugely welcome refresh to get the stock moving and should pave the way for some great fishing in the week ahead.

Aside from the fishing, Ron has just topped up some of the absolute best sellers here at Helmsdale Co. Take a look at our stunning sell out Cascades with JC and the Solar Firetail option along with our deadly Firetail Willie Gunn and breathtaking RS Solar Flamethrowers. These will hammer fish all summer and into the autumn so make sure you grab some while we have them in stock.

You will find all these and many more in out "Latest in" category so please have a look as many of our big favourites are back in stock just in time for the best of the summer fishing - click here to see all the latest in - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/latest-flies-in.html

RS Solar Flamethrower gold Patriot double

RS Solar Cascade Firetail gold double

RS Solar Willie Gunn Firetail gold double

RS Cascade Tungsten gold conehead, you need a fistful of these beauties this week for the rise in the water.

The Helmsdale had another handfull of fish last week and now it is a waiting game for water grilse and sea-trout. Aside from that we are fast approaching peak season and just in time for this we have stocked up on our best selling flies which always sell out fast.

Below are pics of just a few to get the juices flowing but be warned, you need to be quick as these once advertised they will not be around for long, they never last so please try to grab your stock as soon as you see them.

The micro versions of some of these flies are incredible as an example micro Willie Dog conehead, just sensational along with many others.

Please order from our "Latest Flies In" category link right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/latest-flies-in.html?page=all

RS Baby TD

Alistair Flamethrower

Willie Dog Conehead

Cascade JC Silver Double

Cascade Tungsten conehead

There were a handfull of salmon off the Helmsdale last week. Early and late was the key but things should change this week with the weather breaking up a little and rain forecast. Even wind with overcast skies will help. The good news is that the water temps have been cooling at night so the danger to fish is not nearly as severe as it could have been.

Ok, now to the exciting stuff. Our Rs UV range of micro tubes have been a huge success, they look stunning, they are catching and they have inspired another hugely exciting fly for summer, The RS UV SuperStoat Loop double. yes. tied on the class razor sharp up eye Loop double with the same ingredients as our UV micro tubes. Check them out below where there is a choice of FL red head or black head and only available in size 14s at the moment keeping on the micro theme, we may be forced to tie on Patriot doubles if we get lots of requests for bigger sizes. Just contact us.

RS UV SuperStoat Loop double - you can buy these stunning flies right here right now - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-superstoat-loop-double

FL red head

Well it looks like the extreme drought conditions have finally resonated with river boards in the North and there are temporary fishing “shut downs” in operation. I have never witnessed this before but I cannot disagree with the decisions to protect salmon that are really struggling and diseased in many rivers. The season so far has been poor and this takes things to a whole new level. All being well the rains will come soon and fresh salmon will miraculously arrive as usual and we may end up with a decent summer of fishing, but, we cannot take too many more fishing extremes in the future or rods will just remain empty unless prices start dropping. There comes a point when the most avid angler will say “no” and decide that there are more interesting ways to spend a few days holiday.

Anyway, all this aside, we recently launched a hugely successful RS UV Micro Stoat tube to help combat the low water conditions. Since launch we have had amazing feedback on the tubes and requests for Hitch and conehead options. Well, we love a challenge here at Helmsdale Co as fly tweaking and designing is one of our best assets so we have created amazing new designs for both as you can see and buy below. We will offer the tubes individually or as a stunning tactical set of 3 with additional hooks if required. We are very excited about these as we know that salmon, grilse and seatrout will be hugely tempted especially if the water remains low.

But, please only fish for salmon if it makes sense right now.

RS UV Micro tubes set which you can buy right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-micro-tubes-set-of-all-3

Hitch tube with Scandi silver treble size 16. This tube can also be fished conventionally for salmon & sea-trout. Buy here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-hitch-tube-best-ever

RS UV Micro silver conehead - buy right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-micro-silver-conehead