The Helmsdale is coming off a few good weeks. The first big water of the summer induced a great week early June with around 100 fish off and the following week reported 80 or so to keep the great momentum going for the season. Last week has not been so good as the main run is drying up a little and grilse are very thin on the ground but its very typical for the time of year. A few small grilse have been caught so its just a question now of when with the main run come in and how many. The Association water was not on fire but fish were taken if the hours were put in. Latest news hot off the press - William Jappy had 4 today (24/6/17) one at 8lbs and 3 grilse between 3 & 4lbs Alistair jappy had a 7lbs fish yesterday. Looks like things are about to hot up so get your flies ordered and hooks sharpened and don't forget to get them from us, the specialists!...permits are available from Rob at Thyme & Plaice and the Bannockburn on Dunrobin St.

BTW our long awaited Tungsten Red frances tubes are back in stock!

The Brora has been picking away well also with good water levels and last week I had first hand experience of it having the luxury of two rods booked on the South bank. As it turned out we got off to a flyer as my partner in crime and fiancee Donna grassed a 13.5 pounder within 20 mins of starting at 6.30am in her favourite Madman pool. the rest of the week produced only another dozen fish but at least 6 were lost after playing them for a few minutes, more offers were had but they did not connect. If the truth be told, the water was way too high for the first half of the week with the spate topping out at close to 3ft on the Ford pool marker on Monday. Brother Andy had another out of Madman and Adam Macdonald had a bar of silver from Otter pool after bending the rod on one in the Pot and getting smashed out of the park by a brute in Greenbank! below are a bunch of pics from the week to brighten up the report! By the way, the fly of the week was my favourite Willie Dog conehead which never fails on the Brora...it landed 6 for me during the week but could have been 10.

Once again, Loop rods and Gaelforce lines made fishing an absolute pleasure, I just cannot praise this tackle combo enough, I do love the Loop GDC shootine heads which complement the rods superbly but the Gaelforce range get the nod for me as they are all integrated through to floating runningline on their Spey and shooting head lines. Please call me for a cast or demo with any from our selection of Loop rods and Gaelforce lines, you need to feel the amazing quality to believe it! call us to order any of this kit, they are by far and away our best sellers over the last 2 seasons, No prizes for guessing why!

I must give a special mention also to our incredibly comfortable and spacious accom run by John & Caroline McMorran which lies close to the Brora river. This fabulous 4 bedroom house offers absolutely everything you could wish for including free broadband and a homely wood burning fire as well as oil fired central heating. It has everything required for a week on the river, the huge open plan kitchen is a fantastic space to relax and eat and the beds are as comfy as you will ever sleep on, we thoroughly recommend it and have already booked it for next year! - http://www.self-catering-clynelish.com/

RS Willie Dog tube, Gaelforce line and Loop ,Cross S1, a combo to die for! You really need some of these flies in your summer flybox, grab some here right now while stocks last - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/willie-dog-crimp-conehead.html

Willie Dog securely in the scissors of another sea liced rocket.

Off he goes full of power to fight another day

The fish were of superb quality as you can see, no problem with feeding for these guys wherever they came from!

Otter pool looking great

Donna's reward for getting up early Monday Morn. Loop Cross S1 13ft

The Beech and Beech tree pool, not quite so rewarding! however we did retrieve the killer fly...

Another missile netted for Ron, Tail of Bengie pool.

Tail of Bengie pool at around 1ft 6

The gorgeous Greenbank pool at 2ft

The resulting chromer for RS first time down it...

Upper Cliff pool in fine fettle.

Adam Macdonald and my daughter April have the top of the Otter pool well covered later in the week lower water.

Adam Macdonald in the Pot pool, minutes later he was hit by a salmon right on the surface which did not stick!

Another hefty fish later in the week from Greenbank

Donna into another double figure fish but unfortunately it won the battle this time throwing the hook after 5 minutes

RS Willie Dog Crimp 8mm - deadly! buy here right now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/willie-dog-crimp-conehead.html

RS Willie Dog Summer 12mm - deadly! buy here right now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/willie-dog-conehead-summer.html

Time to gear up on Summer killers like the beauties below. These are some of the absolute best of the best proven salmon killers over the years. Coneheads & Crimp tubes (weighted bodies) have become hugely popular in flyboxes everywhere and its no secret why. They are slightly weighted and start to fish great just sub surface, the salmon attack them in full vision and suck in! You can fish them with tube singles, doubles or trebles too. The other flies of note are the Silver Stoats Tail silver doubles, Cascade, Park Shrimp and Alistairs, deadly again as droppers or point flies in a highland team. Then there are Monkey flies, SuperSquid and Red Frances, you cannot go wrong with these, we got it covered!

We now also have the superb Hardy Marquis reels back in stock in No 1 & No 2, absolute classics all day long. They have been upgraded with better looks and a more controlled drag system but they still have the most coveted (screaming reels) sound in fly fishing, of that there is no doubt!

You can order them right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/hardy-marquis-lwt-no-1-2-pro-choice.html

Go on, treat yourself and pop one on a Loop rod with a Gaelforce line! Its a dream combo...