Archive

26

July

Its crunch time on the Helmsdale once again ...

Ronald Sutherland

 26/7/09 

Its crunch time on the Helmsdale once again as we are expecting the main grilse run to arrive in the next fortnight. Recent weeks have been poor in general for July with another low dry spell but this is a sign of the times and to be more expected now. This week the river has suffered badly with high unsettled water conditions but in the past week around 75 fish have been recorded in total. The Association water produced the best quality fish and all (14) were fresh run grilse with an occasional 8lbs salmon. The upper river saw few fresh runners however pods of grilse were encountered amongst the persistent but welcome spate water. Most of the fish caught & returned were stale salmon. 

Grilse numbers are definitely on the rise now. Hopefully the next month on the river should provide excellent sport.Don’t forget to kit up with the correct tackle here on-line. Give yourself the best chance of a hook up by having a good supply of the right flies for water conditions. All our salmon lines are on offer for the next fortnight so now is the time to get a slick new floating line on the reel to shoot those deadly new flies. The more fish you cover - the more action you will have! We have lots of Spey, double taper & shooting heads in store so call for advice on your best option.

 Tight lines.

12

July

It's been a tough few weeks on the Helmsdale

Ronald Sutherland

12/7/09 

It's been a tough few weeks on the Helmsdale due to a spell of low water and very high water temperatures hence the lack of news on this report. The spring run has long dwindled out and the summer run has yet to materialise. Sea-trout fishing is producing most sport at the moment supplemented with the odd fresh grilse & salmon. The next few weeks should see an increase in fish arriving – apparently there are encouraging numbers milling around on the North coast waiting for rain.

Recent seasons have seen the main summer run peak in early August so get shopping for grilse flies right here right now as the action is about to start again!

We have introduced many new flies on-line in the last few weeks so have a good look through the site to pick your favourite killer flies. This is the time when Baby Temple Dog plastic tubes really start to score heavily so make sure you get some in your box fast! Silver stoat’s tails, Alistairs, Cascades, Park Shrimps, Pot Bellies Pigs & Coneheads are also big proven summer killers. Also don’t forget just how well the Jeannie, Thunder & lightening, Munro killer & Hairy Mary used to perform in summer, we have them all.

Remember,the most successful anglers can adapt to conditions quickly and always have a range of fly/tube sizes to cover all water heights and clarity.

Tight lines.