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The Helmsdale has had a good week as the springers have arrived with 4 lovely bars of silver off the river. Most of the bigger rivers have been struggling with contunued massive snow melt but the Helmsdale has been fining down to a great height all week and local anglers have been taking full advantage.

A beautiful Upper Torrish springer for Andy Sutherland (below) taken on the Golden Angel tubefly which is a mix between an Alistair and Garry Dog. Andy caught his biggest ever salmon (30.5lbs) on a Garry Dog tube on the Spey at Arndilly a few years ago so colours he likes and so do the fish! A mix of orange & yellow bucktail has always worked well in the spring, add a sparse outer layer of black and you have the fabled Willie Gunn which is the "go to" tubefly for many in clear spring water.

A full range of classic coppertube RS design Willie Gunn Special from 2" to 1/2". You must grab a few of these for your box!

Deadly RS Coneheads from raking 6" to tiny 0.25" covering all options, you know you need them!!

The first fish was hooked and landed by (Borrobol ghillie) Glen Macdonald in Lower Caen beat 1, No 2 quickly followed by (guess who!?) Andy Sutherland the next day on Upper Torrish beat 3. Ronnie Ploughman grassed another classic springer in the Tail of the Bay pool beat 3 again and the week was perfectly rounded off by Alistair Jappy another local expert netting yet another bar of silver perfection on beat 4 Stoney Point on an Alistair TigerTail. All fish were estimated at around 9 - 10lbs

Alistairs fish from Stoney Point and the deadly RS design fly below.

The RS Alistair TigerTail tube ( we have loads! ) and you can buy them on the website with all our other RS killers.

Prospects are looking very good for the week ahead on all rivers as a high pressure is set to dominate the weather and settle things down.

It is a pity that travel is still so restricted for angling and everything else for that matter but it is more important at this stage in the Pandemic that we still take the greatest care and caution in every aspect of our lives and get this measured lockdown exit right. Our own health is more important than fish right now. It is tough to sit it out, but, I can tell you that we have never sold so much fly tying materials for spare time flytying and if this year is anything like last there will be an explosion of hungry anglers on waters all over Europe soon as restrictions begin to ease.

So, on that basis we are continuing with our popular 3 + 1 deal on all salmon flies and I will be adding another short video soon showing you a few more of our deadly offerings. It is a great time to freshen up your salmon fly boxes with sparkling new flies. Don't forget to throw out old nylon and grab some Gaelforce sinking tips which are super handy until things warm up. If you really want to spoil yourself I would hugely recommend a Gaelforce floating line in Spey or shooting head to really get you going. Carron Jetstream are also very popular and both will get you launching very long lines across the water in no time.

Take care, stay safe and I hope you get on a river somewhere very soon.

Ron talks you through 3 of our best spring flies (click on the link below)

https://youtu.be/VC3bU21rvLE

The first fish was caught on the Helmsdale by Kildonan ghillie Glen Macdonald at 9lbs from beat 1 Lower Caen and a nice first fish off the Thurso caught by Hugo Ross at 11lbs

Hopefully things will ease on the ice grip this week and rods will get on the water after a long spell of freeze out. The weather forecast is showing much warmer temps and rivers may be high initially but things will start moving. Hopefully anglers will have a little more room for manoeuvre too.

We still have our 3 + 1 deal on all salmon flies running to get your flyboxes refreshed a little.

Funilly enough anglers are buying all sorts especially spring flies bit these little beauties are moving too...our deadly summer RS Cascade Alistair invented by Ron a few years ago.

Please put code 3 + 1 in our comments section when ordering.

Fresh springers are now being caught on the Dee and Tweed. Gavin Brown got his season off to a stunning start by netting 3 lovely fish on the fly from the Junction pool, the fly was tied using synthetic JC so I think that tells us that Natural JC versus Synthetic can be put to bed!

The Helmsdale is still quiet but angling pressure is very low. But, we are now running a spring 3 + 1 deal on our salmon flies. If you buy 3 you get 1 free unless your order is ober £100, then you qualify for our very special 2 + 1 deal. please put either 3 + 1 or 2 + 1 in the comments section when ordering to secure your superb fly deal.

3 of our best below - RS Blue Ass willie Gunn, RS Black & Yellow feeler & RS Willie Gunn Special.

Start your shopping for free flies right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/latest-flies-in.html

Tight lines

The Salmon fishing season and hunt for that highly prized spring salmon gets a little more serious tomorrow 1/2/21 when another 2 of the big 4 open for business, the Tweed and Dee. Let’s hope the fish bite harder than the frost and lots of local anglers get on the water.

Helmsdale Co will be running a buy 3 get 1 free on all salmon flies from today and we have some of our best flies back in stock for the start of the season. Grab some of the latest in right here before they sell out - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/latest-flies-in.html?page=all

Please put 3 + 1 in our comments section when ordering.

Tight lines to all.

Hi there
We hope you are safe and well. This is a copy of tha latest block email we have circulated....and a of pic below of a couple of our best spring flies which are now available again.
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You may be pleased to know that we have many of our best selling flies in stock now and they will sell out quickly so if you want some you might want to be fast on the draw!

RS Micro SuperSnaelda
RS Black & yellow feeler tube
RS Solar Monkey tube in 3 sizes
RS Willie Gunn Special copper tube
RS Spring Frances conehead
RS Posh Willie Gunn
RS Cascade Monkey Conehead
RS Alistair TigerTail copper tube
RS Willie Dog conehead
RS Posh Monkey Copper tube and coneheads
RS Mylar superSnaelda copper tube
RS Black & yellow mylar copper tube
RS Alistair original aluminium tube and gold coneheads
RS Chartreuse Monkey Conehead
RS Dee Monkey copper, tungsten and conehead tube
RS Cascade gold tungsten conehead
RS Naked Alistair gold conehead
RS Naked Willie Gunn gold conehead
RS Willie Gunn Gold Body copper tubes

And many more.....

Lockdown will not last forever so we are all desperate to get back out on the water soon with our favourite salmon flies.

The season so far on the Helmsdale is very quiet as only a few rods on the water and mainly the Association water - odds on for the legend that is Andy Sutherland to hook up right there - we have both had numerous Jan and Feb springers from the Flat pool at the top end of this beat so look out for our fishing reports.

Stay safe and get your gear and flies ready for better days ahead on the rivers we all dream about fishing.

You can shop here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/

The river has been very quiet during opening week as there have been little or no anglers on the water. So, not much to report yet!

On the fly front, we have started to use some superb new synthetic junglecock on one or two of our flies. Check out the new Alistair design from Ron (below) which is tied on a bare gold double using the award winning Semperfli tying thread and synthetic JC from the same company. We really like the look of it. Real JC or not is a big question and one that has been bouncing around for years but as access to real JC is becoming more restricted the synthetic sub is becoming more and more prevalent. Opinions differ but generally I am feeling that the mood is swinging away from the very expensive real JC, but only just!

Real JC is indeed the real deal but are the salmon interested in the slightest? it is a subject that books could be written about but at the end of the day the angler will decide until real JC becomes impossible to access. personally I hope that day never comes but if it does I do not think we will catch less fish as many of the most successful flies already swim without it.

Let me know what you think of the Alistair below, same fly in 2 different pics with synthetic JC.

The river opened very quietly yesterday with no frills. Unfortunately high water levels shut out the fishing but overnight frost should get the things moving today. Obviously under all the current restrictions it will only be locals on the water. Some of the bigger pools should be in decent order for a cast. Classics like tail of Kilphedir, Upper Caen, Salscraggie and the Torrish pools may offer some sport and could produce that highly prized January springer. Watch this space!

The new salmon fishing season is only a few days away for rivers in the North of Scotland but new restrictions will will curtail celebrations. However, government guidance does not stop the fishing itself, along with golf and some other outdoor activities life goes on as long as strict guidance is adhered to. This means that’s fishing is on, albeit in a local basis. So all eyes will be on the earliest rivers to open again, the Helmsdale, Thurso & Naver etc. Who would bet against an opening day springer from the far North.....

We have all the tried and tested spring flies you need. The Helmsdale company was created on the basis of pure passion for fishing alongside offering the highest quality salmon flies tied by the worlds best fly tiers and all centred around the insatiable tying flair and cutting edge ideas of hardened salmon angler Ron Sutherland. No fly tier has pushed the boundaries of salmon fly tying and taken so many new concept designs and turned them into deadly mainstream favourites. The list is extensive. It all began by refining the deadly presence and effectiveness of large Scandinavian Templedog tubes, Ron realised the potential of creating tiny arctic fox conehead and baby TD versions for uk summer fishing which were a meteoric success. Next it was the legendary Frances fly which was simply deadly and “go to” in Iceland, Ron explored the prospect of adding the tantalising feelers to uk favourites for all season, again an instant success, Feeler Black & Yellow, Feeler Willie Gunn and Cascade to name but a few. Many more concept flies followed - infact a book could be written so let’s forward wind to recent history to save time. TigerTails, SuperSnaelda, SuperSquid, Willie Gunn Krill and the lethal Solar Monkey. All have caught January Springers and opening day fish amongst them, they are absolute trend setters available in most tackle stores all over europe but the Solar Monkey is the big trend setter right now along with yet another new RS design, the Spring Alistair and you can order them all from the Helmsdale Company, the salmon fly specialists.

The Rs Solar Monkey conehead

RS Solar Monkey double

The view at the vice today (Boxing day) RS Willie Gunn Special in full production with Semperfli fly tying thread, simply the best....both of them.

As we approach the new salmon fishing season I look forward with optimism and trepidation. Will we have the luxury of a full fishing season right from the off or will restrictions plague the format yet again. I get the feeling it will be a slow start as regional lockdowns keep everything in check for obvious reasons, but, within those regions i think we will or at least should have the freedom to get out on the water to enjoy the fresh air in isolation on our favourite pools.

We get the message, we have all had the memo, we know how to stay safe and keep others protected so let’s hope fishing can be booked and the outdoor economy can function in a safe manner acceptable to the powers that be. I for one will be hunting for that elusive springer first chance I get! Look out for a bunch of our best flies coming back in stock and our new spring Alistairs which we can’t tie quickly enough right now, you can see them in the reports below...

Most of our tubes now come with a hook option which takes the guessing out of correct sizing for many anglers, this has been a great success so chose your option of tube double, treble or single when you order and you are set up to go. We also have our super popular Swedish tube fly boxes back in stock ( we call them the perfect tube fly box ) because there are! Solid, waterproof and pocket size with 5 compartments for tubes and hooks. We also have the favoured Brown Maxima nylon which is as good as it gets in the popular spring weights of 20, 18 and 15lbs. We are adding more accessories to the website due to the growth in demand of online shopping lately so have a good look through the site for all the handy bits and pieces you need.  A suggestion for starting your checklist could be Flies. hooks, Maxima, Gaelforce sink tips, lines and rods, this will get you going very nicely.

So, sharpen your hooks and check out your gear, grab what you need and get ready for that very special first cast of the season. Stay safe, stay clever and respect everyone you might meet, at distance. We wish you tight lines and a very safe season.

Our perfect tube fly box