Archive

30

December

Opening day and competition

Ronald Sutherland

We are running a competition from today (30/12/18). Last season one of our flies really stood out from the rest, if you are first to name it you will win a dozen in a selection of sizes. It's worth the guess as you will catch fish on it next season for sure. Email or answer on our latest facebook post to win. Naked Kinermony wins...Allan Marandola was first and wins 12 & Mark Elder wins 6. you can buy them here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-naked-kinermony-killer.html

Photo by Alan Bithel

In less than 2 weeks (Jan 11th) the stunning river Helmsdale (above) once again opens for business and ex Ghillie Martin Grant will have the honour of casting the first fly. Tickets for the annual free fishing will be available from "Glencoast" on the Main st. Yvonne Grant (my niece) is the new business owner which she runs from a re-vamped old tackle shop location. Glencoast specialise in gifts and Gins and also have a range of fishing tackle and clothing, they are hosting a Gin tasting on the day from 3 - 5 so don't miss that either or the opening day! On a personal note, Yvonne worked in the tackle shop with me for many years and she knows the angling scene very well and her outgoing personality and knowlege will make sure the business is a great success, also, her father is the legendary salmon angler Andy Sutherland... I wish her all the best for a great river opening.

Proceedings will emanate from the Belgrave Arms hotel as usual with the Sutherland Schools pipe band marching "up the street" and entertaining the gathering, Sir Michael Wigan will say a few words and then the fishing action will begin in ernest.

The extra mild winter is sure to have enticed a few early runners so sharpen your hooks and get stuck in. Tactically if the river is on the low side at (6" - 1ft 6) then you need to get up to beat 6 and fish the waters immediately below the Kildonan falls as thats where salmon will stop until water temps roughly pass 40 degrees. If the river is high (2ft+) its still beat 6 but your best chance is the tail of the Manse (North bank) or tail of Church Streams (South bank) if no fish are caught on beat 6 on the first few days you should concentrate on the deep pools of the lower beats 1 & 2 just above the village.

At Helmsdale Co online we have all the deadly flies as you might expect, our tubeflies have caught most first fish in recent times so we all know they work. Personally I have been lucky enough to have caught a few January salmon and I would not look past our RS Willie Gunn Special. Many years ago I looked at the famous Willie Gunn pattern and decided it needed modernising slightly and I knew I could improve my favourite pattern. I did, and caught more springers than ever and once we popped it online for sale it became a huge fave for many fishing in the UK and abroad. Then The massively successful summer Alistair tube got the same treatment, I added a new TigerTail to the design and it immediately caught the first fish on the river, and on many others! We have all the gear, we are the specialists through experience.

Tight lines to all, have a fantastic prosperous healthy and big fish New Year!

Our deadly RS Black & yellow TigerTails (below) are back in stock in 4 sizes down to an incredible tiny 1/4" coppertube and you can buy them right here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-tigertail-black-yellow.html

Check out this totally new stunner also, another New Collection killer from Ron, you cannot buy these anywhere else unless you stock them! The RS Willie Gunn FireTail on a Gold Patriot double. We think these are going to be very big sellers as our Solar range are already hugely popular, read more and buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-willie-gunn-firetail.html

Check out these great new tubefly boxes, we have plenty in stock. They have fully adjustable partitions which you can scale to any length or size of fly. Keep all your hooks and extensions in them also. Buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/new-tube-fly-box-pro-choice.html

11

December

Last minute accessories

Ronald Sutherland

The close season is flying in and we are only a matter of days before Christmas and just a few weeks before the opening of many salmon rivers.

We have loads of last minute accessories and fly selections for Christmas gifts, grab some of them and you still have plenty time for a Christmas delivery.

Our most popular accessory is the Helmsdale lanyard and retractable hook sharpener (below) and we have fabulous new collection flies in our Christmas fly selections.

You can also call us up and arrange any type of fly selection you want, we make tham up quickly and get them off in the post immediately.

Helmsdale lanyard and hook sharpener

and open