The river came up to 2 ft overnight on Sunday and flushed life back into the fishing. Bonanza it was not, but there were enough fresh and resident fish to score approx 100 fish for the week including the Association water. Sea-liced fish were reported from beat 4 above but I have not heard of a fish coming off the loch yet, this is no surprise as it is not taken seriously and rarely visited, having said that there will be plenty fish in it now and anyone giving up a few hours on the lower beat will be rewarded if the wind is favourable.

Although catches were generally good during the week it was still easy to miss out as pods of fresh fish ripped through the system. The week ended with a bang for Badanloch rods when Alistair & William Jappy got the nod late on Saturday. They had a great evening with 5 fish from beat 2 and 4 on beat 1 after 8pm. Unfortunately the sea-trout have not really materialised in any numbers yet. Catches have been sparse from the generally productive Association water.

The same water however has had its best week of the season with around 10 fish off ending with 3 on Friday and 3 on Saturday. We had the usual mix of fish for the time of year with grilse as small as 2lbs up to fish in the teens. Visiting and local anglers both caught their fair share with all the usual suspects getting in on the act apart from me who is too busy providing the tackle to catch them, I'll try to rectify this problem from next week onwards!  

Baby Temple dogs, Alistairs and small doubles were catching well all week as the river dropped fast - this week could be even better!

This weeks photo's include Mick Buttery (below) with his second fish of the season (11lbs) on another one of his own flies - this time it was the Micky Blue

Kenny Macdonald Golspie on a flying visit had this 8lbs beauty from Roaries pool on a Baby TD.

And, here are 2 of our new flies which have been starring abroad in Russia on the Yokanga and Ponoi rivers. We are getting fantastic feedback from guides and anglers claiming amazing catches on these flies. I think you need a selection of all the above flies in your box! 

Flaming Tigerback - To buy them click here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1496

Willie Gunn Feeler - To buy click here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1482

The deadly Baby Temple Dog tube - fish this with a Fulling Mill tube double size 10 or 12 - these doubles are exactly the same as Loop doubles in strength weight and colour. You can buy them both here right now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1530

http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1344

The Megan Boyd film is here - http://vimeo.com/68125438 check out more below from the outstanding film documentary by American director Eric Steel.

Low water persisted last week and catches slowed down as a result. I would estimate around 35 fish off including 3 from the Association water. The highlight of the week would be a super sea-liced 25 pounder from Lower Caen for Johnnie Pilkington fishing Achentoul rods. The fish hit a Sunray Shadow and faught like a tiger - awesome sport!

Johnnie and his big fish

The sea-trout have not arrived yet in any numbers but we expect to start catching a few by the end of the coming week when the tides suit if the water is still low. The forecast is for heavy rain this weekend so lets see what happens - the river could do with a freshen up.

I am off to Edinburgh film festival on Sunday to see the premier of "Kiss the water" by Eric Steel. The film is about the fascinating life story of the late Megan Boyd. Megan was of-course famous the world over for her amazing fly-tying, I was glad to be a pupil and as a result and to commemorate the great lady I am bringing back the deadliest summer salmon fly the Helmsdale river ever saw - simply called the "Megan". up until the 90's no salmon angler fishing the Helmsdale in summer would fish without one set up as a point fly for the "dibble".

The Megan tube is back and you can buy one right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1649

Check out one of the latest previews on the Megan film right here - http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/films/2013/kiss-the-water, I enjoyed tying for the film where tie the hairwing and classic version of the Megan fly amongst others. Lots of other locals also get in on the act - it's a "must see" movie for all anglers and fly-tiers -  http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/lady-of-the-flies-previewing-kiss-the-water-1-2973779

last week the river fished very well considering the low water conditions. With around 80 fish off, many were obviously migrating under the cover of darkness as most fish caught were sealiced. The Sunray Shadow had a great week depending on which estate you were fishing and wee Alistairs and Baby Temple Dogs also scored well. The Association water only gave up 3 for the week with Peter Macmillan (2) and returning visitor Mr Bell the lucky anglers. The sea-trout are no different this year to anything else and are later than usual, very few are showing and only a couple have been caught by salmon anglers to date. We have some superb new Sea-trout Snake flies in stock if you want to catch these fish in the darkest hours of the night. 

There is little rain on the forecast apart from a few heavy showers - we may or may not get water! Check out the low water flies below if you are fishing this week. I have some interesting news stories and flies coming soon and this section is lined up for another change in format.

Until then drool over these new colour concept reels coming soon from Loop tackle - Pre-order with us now!!

A couple of pics from my trip to Fulling Mill HQ in Kericho Kenya

Ron and FM technical director and fly-tying wizard Steve Carew with the amazing Rift Valley in the background.

A few of Ron's new Posh Willie Gunns tied at the factory.

Alistair Coneheads

Upgrading lots of dated patterns - here I have modified (top) an old Fulling Mill Flamethrower design.

 

 

The water is low and these killers are what you need in small sizes! you can order right now by clicking here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=5

Park Shrimp

Silver Stoat

Silver Stoat conehead

Micro Willie dog conehead

 

The last two weeks provided some decent sport throughout the river with scores of 75 and 50 respectively but we are now in need of a fresh water top up. The forecast looks good with rain moving through for the rest of the week, unfortunately this may spoil the local sea-trout fishing before it even gets into gear.

Two recent first fish were caught by Mike Buttery (12lbs) and Paul Atherton (9lbs) in Roaries pool on the Association water. Both fish took Mike's new Chartreuse conehead tube aptly named the "Micky B". Borrobol Ghillie Glen Macdonald also got in on the act with a flying visit before work to see his brother Keith, Glen promptly landed a 12 pounder from the Sewerage pool. Twins William & Alistair are also still catching with William landing 4 in the last two weeks. All in all the Association water is fishing fairly well as expected with the low water conditions.

Keith Macdonald shows off Brother Glen's salmon with Roaries pool in the background.

Mick Buttery below with his well earned first fish of the season at 12lbs! 

Paul Atherton and his first fish at 9lbs