We are still on a "Buy 3 get 1 free deal" on flies so get stuck in, the fish are running and you need to be armed and ready!!

We are also doing some great prices on Simms jackets and rods and lines for June, call Ronald on 01431821372 to grab a bargain!

Another decent week on the Helmsdale is raising confidence in the prospect of a good season. The weather has been very unsettled and quite unseasonal on the temperature side with buffeting cold North Westerly winds but importantly the river height has been good. Earlier in the week it was down to around 7/8ins which suited the Association water and locals took full advantage. The Jappy twins Alistair & William bagging 4 or 5 between them on coneheads and Duncan Mackay also got off the mark with 2 fish in 24 hours. Visitor Mr Slater also had a nice 10 pounder on Thursday and a few fish were seen and lost, it was obvious that the beats were going to score well.

The well travelled Ian Muir had the best of it landing 20 cracking fish on Kildonan rods almost all of which were sealiced and in superb condition between 8 - 15lbs. He commented that there were no seal or dolphin marks or any red vent present on any of the fish and all were released, 2 of which were deeply hooked and cut loose with the hook still embedded to minimise any risk of damage. An exemplary performance of conservation and superb sport. A conehead Munro Killer caught most of the fish. The best fish I heard of was 17lbs landed for Mr Erington by Johnny Hardy. There were around 75 off for the week keeping on a consistent footing which is typical Helmsdale form.

The river is up once again after rising on Saturday to spoil fishing a little but this should set things up for another good week next week. A few seatrout have been spotted running and young Ewan Gordon managed to land one at 1.5lbs and Jordan Marshal hooked a belter estimated at 4lbs but lost it.

Ian Muir with one of his superbly conditioned fish from tail of the Bay beat 3

Shona Muir with another absolute spanker at 15lbs from Clay Bank beat 5.

Coneheads are fishing great and our Cascade Alistairs and Monkeys are hooking fish all over the UK. You can buy all these great tubes and many more right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/helmsdale-co-flies/coneheads/tds.html

Monkey tube

The legendary RS Willie Dog which was working great locally for the Twins on the Association water this week and on many UK rivers. Day tickets can be purchased from the tackle shop for only £25 per rod per day, OAP's £12.50 and under 16s go free.

The fish have arrived on the Helmsdale and the last 2 weeks produced around 80 for the second week in May and last week around 60-70 were recorded. All the usual flies were doing the business and the local water is also giving a few.

One of the highlights was a first fish on fly for young local angler Jordan Marshall on one of his own new "hot head" tubes from Roaries pool, it tipped the scales at 7lbs and it is safe to say Jordan will be visiting the river on a much more regular basis from now on.

Prospects are good so well worth getting on the water which will cost you only £25 per rod per day, oap's can get on for just £12.50 and under 16's go free.

Fish are right through the system now and a cast on the loch should produce some action if the wind favours. Below is a nice fish for Henry Charteris from beat 4 above fishing Suisgil rods.

The Brora is also smouldering along very nicely with good catches reported on the upper and lower sections. Pekka Karkkoleinen displays one of the best which was estimated at 20lbs from Stoney pools. The Naver river produced the fish of the season so far with a 27 pounder for one lucky angler, I hear the fishing has been superb up there last few weeks, things are looking up! Could this be a knock on cycle from the record season in 2010 where figures in show that 110,000 fish were rod caught in Scotland? That was the best season recorded since records began in 1952. lets hope the grilse follow form and fill our rivers this summer also, watch this space!

Big water hampered fishing last week with 2 roaring spates washing out 2 days. A good week was expected on the back of the previous week but the river stayed unsettled. However against the odds another 30 fish were reported and the highlight being a magnificent 7 for Borrobol rods on beat 6 Thursday with fish up to 23.5lbs. Beat 6 is holding back a good head of fish in the high cool water and has fished well with the river in dropping mode. See spate here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxU6oCX0k1A

Borrobol Ghillie Glen Macdonald shows off their super 23.5 pounder.

The Association water also suffered. 2 fish were lost in the Flat pool but Mr Kent Hakansson Sweden dropped in for a cast as the Thurso was also on a washout day, he scored with a solid 10 pounder fishing a Monkey tube.

Kent with his tide fresh fish on the Flat pool running at around 2.5 feet

Well we all know what the real big topic of the week was! I'm not in a habit of getting too involved in politics but I will make the following observation on the General Election result in Scotland. There is no man/woman alive other than a delusional one who could view the result as anything other than a giant step towards independence. Speeded up ofcourse by people like Owen Paterson today showing his condescending best form and mocking the Scots again by stating "they need to stop dipping into the English piggy bank and can't expect to have free healthcare and holidays to Lanzarote paid for by England"! What?? You may get away with inappropriate comments like this in the pub with mates but not on Sky News, which incidentally was so shocked by the rant that they removed it from the end of the video link! Little wonder the Scots want to break free.

Whatever your stance on the matter, it is safe to say that the SNP can no longer be looked upon as a separatist minority and they need to be taken very seriously. We all know the politics and how it may affect our sport. I get the chance to discuss the pros and cons regularly with many angling clients online and visitors/locals in the Tackle shop and from what I can make out, a small minority still seem brainwashed citing horror stories of imminent Mugabe land grabs and their fishing and jobs being ripped away etc, this of course is utter hogwash! Salmon fishing is a heritable right same as costal netting and therefore cannot be messed with. The most grotesque highland land grab occurred 200 years ago during the Highland Clearances and it isn’t going to happen again anytime soon whatever the land reform forecast.

As long as I am involved in the sector I will be fighting for what's best for this river, believe me I know exactly how important the river is to the local economy so a fishing "free for all" which is also being branded around will never happen and anyone using this line to satisfy their SNP bashing stance needs to wise up, grow up, and start looking forward with less xenophobic grievance. There is nothing wrong with an appraisal from time to time, fishery management is long overdue.

So, lets hope the fish keep running - onwards and upwards on that front!

The Russian and Norwegian seasons are about to kick in also so don’t forget that we are on a buy 3 get 1 free on all flies until the end of the month. If you are fishing tubes, we have a good range of strong doubles and singles plus a big selection of great international flies, have a good look through our website or call me for advice on putting a selection together.

I had a client send me a fly I tied for him over a year ago, it has hammered fish abroad and on the Naver 2 weeks ago when 70 were caught in total for the week. I forget its name but it sure looks good and has a sparkling translucent Polar Bear underwing. The fly pic below is unvarnished and rolling off the vice.

Well

As predicted, the Helmsdale sprung into action last week with around 30 fish off. 5 fish were landed Monday before a washout ensued Tuesday. Ian Muir and his team fishing Borrobol rods were expecting a decent week and beat 3 Monday did not disappoint with 3 fish, he went on to grass another 6 to his own rod from beat 6 (3) and beat 5 (3) including a belting 20 pounder from the Swirl beat 6. Meanwhile most of the other rods were bumping into some nice fish throughout the river with one from the Canal pool at the very head of the system, fish are definitely now in the loch. The best fish of the week was a thumping 23 pounder which fell to the rod of Angela Webb fishing the gravelly pool Achentoul rods, a pot bellied pig tube did the job. No fish were caught on the Association water although a little high all week but the most stunning fact of the week would be the absence of a fish from beat 2, this beat offers some of the finest fly water in Scotland let alone the Helmsdale! Hopefully just a blip. As the cold snap and high water continues sink tips with weighted tubes and coneheads will keep catching as long as fish keep running, a timely chance to still take advantage of our buy 3 get 1 free on all flies ( apart from Solar monkey! ).

For those of you who are interested the open Helmsdale River Board meetings come around this weekend again but with another eagerly awaited major Scot Gov Consultation imminent on new Fishery Management structure in Scotland these meetings could be some of the last in the current format. The formation of a National Wild Fisheries Unit and local Fishery Management Organisations are to modernise all aspects of river management through a completely new framework as soon as possible.

Achentoul ghillie George (Hardy) Sutherland with Angela Webb thumping 23 pounder


Ian Muir with his super 20 pounder from the Swirl pool
 

Otis Ferry shows off his sparkling first Helmsdale fish from the Manse pool beat 6.