River levels were dropping away last week on the Helmsdale but fish were obviously running. Local experts Andy Sutherland, Corrie Cormack and Hugo Ross all took full advantage bagging 3 or 4 each from all over the river. The total for the week was estimated at over 20 so things are hotting up. Adam Macdonald also got in on the act with a few casts here and there and caught something you don't often see mid April - not well mended, the colour says it all but it was amusing non the less, and a salmon (pic below)

With travel restrictions being eased last Friday there has been an inevitable spike in fishing bookings and our website has exploded with flies and accessory orders. Below is our new deadly set of Firetail Cascades and Willie Gunns which were a best seller for us last season and you can buy...

We have had some amazing "sell out" flies recently at Helmsdale Co but the good news is that a load of them are back in stock as of today plus our new RS Solar Flamethrower tied on superb gold Patriot doubles. This fly is a stunner and was designed be Ron on the back of the huge success of our Solar Monkey. Do not delay in buying these as they will not last too long, grab some as soon as you see them!! along with these we also have the following flies back in stock, these were also all best sellers. RS Alistair Flamethrower, RS Cascade Firetail, RS Willie Gunn Firetail, RS Solar Cascade, RS Naked Kinermony, RS Red Cascade and many more...see pic below. We will be putting the set below together online too as one of our lethal exclusive new fly selections, they are stunning flies you simply cannot get anywhere else.

To buy these latest flies click here to our "latest in" page where you will see them all -

The Helmsdale started to fish better after a big flood midweek freshened things up, the springers were obviously waiting. A dozen fish were reported by midday Saturday after some decent fishing on beats 5 & 6 and team Grant once again have made all the headlines, this time it was Glencoast tackle shop owner Yvonne who landed her first salmon on beat 5, a sea-liced 10 pounder.

We are now taking international orders as anglers set their sights on hopefully fishing overseas. The whole salmon scene is cranking up as restrictions look like easing, lets hope things open up properly soon after April 26th in Scotland at least.

Yvonne with her proud dad Andy Sutherland giving a helping hand.

One of our international selections heading for Russian bound anglers from the USA hopefully fishing early July.

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There is nothing spectacular about the spring run this season and it is not because fishing pressure is on the low side. Most UK rivers are seeing just a sprinkling of fish apart from the odd good day here and there. Highlights are few and far between, that was until Aaron Grant decided to fish above the falls of Kildonan on the Helmsdale. The Falls are a major temperature barrier holding back fish temporarily hence the reason beat 6 below the falls is generally one of the best spring beats. A fish was taken from the Fall pool last week so it was probable that they were on their way to the upper reaches of the system. Proof is pictured below as Aaron proudly shows off a stunning 20 pounder taken on the deadly Alistair tube.

The river is running low at around 5" so a top up is required to get things going again. Another 3 fish were reported from beat 6, 5 & 2, one of which was a solid 12 pounder from Upper...

The Helmsdale had a pretty quiet week last week with just 5 fish reported. Andy Sutherland got the ball rolling with a lovely shaped fish off the Tail of the bay beat 3 on a Monkey and a few were reported from beat 5 & 6 with one from the Falls Pool. Focus will now be on the upper beats as fish will surely be over the Falls of Kildonan.

We still have our 3 + 1 on all salmon flies running so a great chance to bag some free flies for the rest of the season. Just put 3 + 1 in the comments section when ordering and we will add your free flies for every multiple of 3 you buy, its that simple - no promo codes required.

We have had a fantastic response to our Monkey deal ( seen in report below ) so we now have another fly highlighted and one with a huge following. Ron created this stunner a few years ago based on the super popular Posh Tosh tube. The Posh Willie...

The Helmsdale produced 7 fish last week with the highlight being a brace for Graham Nichols on beat 6 out of Little Rock and Vale of Tears. The Association water also produced its first fish caught in the Flat pool by Jim Forsyth. Some real stunning fish are now coming off many rivers, the most notable a 26 pounder from the Spey at Kinnermony. Angling pressure is obviously still painfully light and the whole country is full of anglers dreaming of when they can next jump in the car and get that first cast of the season outwith their regional boundaries.

This however is a very exciting time of the season so we are going to take the opportunity to talk tactics using one of the deadliest flies,the Monkey fly. Check out our Monkey fly selection below and have a read on how to use them.

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We have added 2 of the very best new salmon selections you will see and at a big discount for a limited time. Check them out below...

New RS Pro Monkey selection - buy now here https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/new-monkey-pro-choice.html

New RS Pro spring selection - buy now here https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/new-rs-spring-pro-choice.html

The Helmsdale was surprisingly quiet last weeks as water levels dropped away, as far as I know there were no fish off so we are taking the opportunity to show you a few of our best selling conehead salmon fly designs.

Please click on the youtube link here and Ron will talk you through some of his unique and super popular salmon flies - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv1756ItMMQ

We have also been tying some new RS designs and you can see one of them below using our favourite tying thread and synthetic jungle cock both from Semperfli which we have for sale on our website.

The stunning New RS Black & yellow Spring Alistair copper tube - Semperfli FL Red waxed No 8/0 + JC Synthetic Natural large.

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We are migrating the website to a new server this weekend so please be patient if access is intermittant, apologies but drop in again very soon and we will be fully up and running again to get your tackle to you.

The Helmsdale has had a good week as the springers have arrived with 4 lovely bars of silver off the river. Most of the bigger rivers have been struggling with contunued massive snow melt but the Helmsdale has been fining down to a great height all week and local anglers have been taking full advantage.

A beautiful Upper Torrish springer for Andy Sutherland (below) taken on the Golden Angel tubefly which is a mix between an Alistair and Garry Dog. Andy caught his biggest ever salmon (30.5lbs) on a Garry Dog tube on the Spey at Arndilly a few years ago so colours he likes and so do the fish! A mix of orange & yellow bucktail has always worked...

Ron talks you through 3 of our best spring flies (click on the link below)

https://youtu.be/VC3bU21rvLE

The first fish was caught on the Helmsdale by Kildonan ghillie Glen Macdonald at 9lbs from beat 1 Lower Caen and a nice first fish off the Thurso caught by Hugo Ross at 11lbs