There were 4 fish off the Helmsdale last week taking the total to 6 for the season. Andy "Torrish" Sutherland finally got off the mark with his summer kit whilst the river was low. Mild temps and very stormy conditions hit the area on Tuesday but that did not stop Andy venturing out onto beat 2 where he put his expert casting qualities to good use in the Park pool grassing a sparkling 10 pounder on his switch rod. A 0.5" Alistair copper tube was the fly & it was simply fished off a floating line..

The river rose to around 1ft the next day with snowmelt and this seemed to intice a few more fish into the system. The Fall pool on beat 6 gave one up so this obviously means that the fish are now over the falls of Kildonan. Beat 3 and 1 also recorded springers later in the week.

On the business front, we have never been busier, Willie Gunns, Alistairs and Chartreuse & yellow solar Monkeys 6cm seem to be the big movers which is no surprise at all, beautiful quality tied flies.

Andy's fresh 10 pounder quickly photographed and returned...

These days we get more pleasure out of seeing other angkers catching beautiful salmon on flies we have designed and improved with the relentless use of new products and thinking, we don’t trend on TiK Tok, but go viral anyway judging by the amount of anglers we see catching fish on our flies all over the world, that’s what makes us “TiK” and since 2007 when we first launched the website online, which was not yesterday, our journey has been hugely successful and we can only thank you for your contunued support.

We have proven that we can keep producing the goods for anglers who keep coming back for more flies and accessories. There are now some very large on-line traders (shall we say) who will never touch pure quality and provenance when it comes to real flytying, what do they know about Megan Boyd? and grinding out springers in horizontal hail storms as we do here at Helmsdale Co, we take flies to the next level so here is another which became known to me very recently as a hugely effected fly on the Brora river last year, on tubes. These will be the most trending doubles on the river Brora this year so if I was you I would get myself a stock of them fast and get on our rapidly growing fly tying list.

On the most recent fishing front the first Helmsdale springer was eventually caught by Stuart Foxall on Lower Caen beat, fish estimated at around 12lbs. The Tweed system has produced 60 springers so far which is a solid start to the season but we have the weather to thank for this as Feb has been one of the most settled in years. Most of the Northern rivers are off the mark now with the Naver also producing its first of the season. The fishing is encouraging as there are obviously lovely spring salmon in many rivers which ere quite often out of commission in February due to extreme high water or ice & snow so keep the rods out while the decent weather permits.

New RS Golden Brora Pink Butt Willie Gunn which you can order now right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/golden-willie-gunn-pink-butt

We will be tying 12s and 14s eventually for low water later in the season and if you want small plastic tubes for summer low water please let us know and Ron will get some organised for you. For now, We have loads of Willie Gunns available, and we have pink extension tubing available for purchase if you would like to get in on the act and simply cut and add to your Willie Gunn tubes.

Stuart Foxall with the first fish off the Helmsdale in Lower Caen pool beat 1.

The good weather has definitely helped the fishing this year and there are springers showing up all over the place, apart from the Helmsdale, water conditions are good and it is only a matter of time before a few come off the river in quick succession.

The Spey and Findhorn opened last week and there were fish off both. Gordon Tait had a lovely clean opening day springer from the Spey at Orton ( below ) and he even caught it on one of our flies, The RS Black & Yellow Spring Cascade JC conehead ( pic also below ). Gordon also wins one of our Breathtaking Black & yellow fly selections which we have donated to the captors of the first fish off the Spey, Findhorn and Deveron

Orton opening day springer

Our RS Black & Yellow Spring Cascade JC which attracted the fish above - you can order some right here with one click! http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-black/yellow-spring-cascade-jc

Jimmy Simpson Aberdeen is also putting another of our flies to good use on the Dee where he caught the springer below on one of our Slim-line Solar Dee Bottle tube monkeys

The RS Slim-line Solar Dee Monkey which caught Jimmy's springer, which you can order right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/new-rs-solar-slim-line-bottle-dee-monkey

Callum Simpson had a lovely springer off the Tweed last week on one of our Classic Alistair Coneheads which you can clearly see in its mouth....well done Callum. And Joseph Owen had the first fish off the Findhorn, a beautiful fish estimated in the teens of pounds. Well done Joseph, you also win one of our Black & yellow fly sets for catching the first fish.

Callum's cracking springer on our Classic Alistair conehead

A stunning Findhorn first fish for Joseph caught on a Cascade double

Partnering with https://salmonfishingholidaysscotland.com/

A quick update as we are very busy tying flies....The Helmsdale has not given up its first fish yet but not many rods on the water unfortunately. The Brora now has 2 off, thurso 1 and the Dee is producing also along with the Oich, Tweed, tay, Carron 2 off and Dee with Jimmy Simpson catching a nice fish on our new slimline Dee Monkey bottle tube.

The Spey also had an opening day fish off Orton yesterday. The rivers are pretty low and overhead conditions good so everywhere is fishable and the hot spots are getting covered well.

Pics to follow this weekend....

Expert angler Ronnie Fraser has caught the first UK fly caught salmon of the season this week on the river Morrison on the Ness system. The sparkling springer weighed in at around 9lbs before being released and it was caught on his deadly personal fly desigh, the Roncade size 8 double. The water was low so Ronnie was just fishing light with a sink tip and the size 8 double, but it did the trick! Fish and fly below and the flies are now available right here on Helmsdale Co in size 6 & 8 for spring fishing - click here to buy - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

Many thanks to Ronnie Fraser for giving us permission to copy and tie up his great fly.

The deadly Roncade tied on a Silver Patriot Double

Ronnies lovely Moriston springer

The Helmsdale river was in good order for most of the week to round up the free fishing but no springers reported as yet - but, on the 15th this fish was caught by Norrie Wilson but it has not been verified as no scales were taken. The salmon was around the 5lbs mark and much noise is being made on Social media regarding what is is exactly, kelt, baggot, rawner, farmed salmon, repeat spawner, you name it. Small springers do get caught but we will never know for sure now what it was so the old reliable saying will be applied unfortunately "if in doubt, its not a springer". You can make up your own opinion, fish in question below.

The Helmsdale finally settled midweek with steadily dropping water showing off the best of its classic spring fishing but unfortunately no spring salmon were recorded. There is still another week to go of free fishing on the river so if the weather holds up and the river keeps dropping your chances of a hookup will increase. It's a great chance to get out onto some stunning fly water so if you have not yet swung the rod in anger then this is the perfect chance to do it, and, there will be a springer in the system, of that you can guarantee....uplpading

We now have our absolute classic Alistair coneheads in 4 sizes for you to choose from covering spring, summer & autumn summer. As you can see below, nobody does them better so buy some in good time for your fishing right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-alistair-original-conehead.html

The River Helmsdale opened yesterday but very low temperatures made fishing impossible. It was the first time in years that the official opening ceremony was cancelled due to the extreme weather. The good news is that all the snow and ice will start melting today and probably all be gone by midweek as temps rise back to unseasonable double figures. The river will rise over the next few days and probably be unfishable for a day or two but once things settle from midweek onwards the conditions should certainly be in favour of seeing the first springer in the net.

The whole river will be open to the public and free to fish until January 25th so it’s a great chance to fish some of the most beautiful fly water you will ever see, and you will certainly be in with a chance of catching that iconic January Spring salmon.

Take a look at some of our most recent reports to see what stunning flies we have available and today we even add more, like the 2 highland legends you see below. Ron has taken his recently upgraded Original Brora Willie Gunns to another level not seen by Willie Gunn himself unfortunately but we are sure he would have been impressed with our gorgeous gold conehead version, just like our Classic Alistairs too!

RS Original Brora UV Willie Gunn Gold Conehead - buy now right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-original-brora-willie-gunn-gold-conehead.

RS Classic Alistair Gold Conehead - buy now right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-alistair-original-conehead.html

A big Happy, healthy, prosperous and fishy New Year to you all. An interesting read below intersperced with pics of our latest RS original Brora Willie Gunn.

RS Brora Willie Gunn original 2025 with that touch of RS UV, buy here now up to 2.5" copper - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

So Christmas and new Year has passed once again and as salmon anglers one of our immediate thoughts is towards the big opening of new salmon season.

Well, rather than casting our thoughts to the usual ( or recent tactical thinking ) how about another tangent and one that may help possibly net a few more springers next year? I’ve been lucky enough to be catching these iconic fish for over 45 years now and seen the old and new lines, people, flies and tactics all produce the goods, but, and there is a big but when it comes to which early season tactic is best. I grew up on the Helmsdale river and dabbled with the river Brora

And others in the area. I’ve been on these waters with the most successful anglers of my time as well as witnessing some great individual rod catches along side the saddening and worrying decline of the species so there are a few thoughts I want to share which may or may not make a difference to the chances and fishing application of the modern angler. The experiences I have had the pleasure of seeing have certainly made a difference to myself when spring fishing nowadays.

2.5" body, 5" hairwing similar in size to the old style Brora Waddingtons - buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

To put all into context I’ll use the legendary Willie Gunn salmon tube as a great example. We have all read a number of stories around the origins of this great fly but I think they all end with Willie picking his favourite fly from a sprinkling of tubes being scattered on the counter of that iconic tackle shop in Brora owned by Rob Wilson, a wonderful shop that I was lucky to visit on many occasions in my younger years when fly tying was my “go to” hobby apart from salmon fishing. Ok, so onto my point which cannot be made quickly but you will see why over the next few paragraphs. Having ghilliing experience myself over many years after been dragged onto the river from a very young age by my father father Andrew Sutherland who ghillied on Torrish estate on the Helmsdale for almost 40 years I can say that I have seen almost all there is to see when it comes to salmon fishing ( but we will never have seen it all ) still, I can honestly say that things have changed dramatically over the years when it comes to the tactical approach, especially when fishing in the spring.

Let me just set the scene on the Helmsdale 40 years ago in early February and you may see where I am coming from and knowing that there were certainly more early springers around at that time. My father would drift up the river with Jack Mackenzie for a couple of hours who fished Torrish rods regularly before the “paying guests” appeared in March. The set up was a 15ft rod, full wetcell sinking line, 4 ft of all 25lbs nylon and a Brora Willie Gunn fully 3” long in just the body, The modern angler might say “holy s..t” that must have been a nightmare to cast and control? Well before we move on and as an aside, let me just say that as much as that sounds like something out of the dark ages, the Rob Wilson Willie Gunn had an innovative shrink wrap applied to the body to protect kelts destroying the tube which I thought was a neat idea for the time. I’ll take this example a stage further and put us on the tail of the great Kilphedir pool on beat 2 of the Helmsdale at around 2.5ft on the gauge, lovely water for most of the best big spring pools and temps still in the 30’s f. The line would be launched and cast quite squarely across the pool, the fly would be given a few seconds to sink, a few large steps would be taken up the pool and then steadily hand lined back in to keep the fly off the bottom and the whole process would be repeated until around half way up the pool was reached. So, the modern angler might say why did he not just fish the pool down? Well tradition was to “back up” the slower water of a big pool to help the fly swing round better and hopefully attract salmon in water often passed by as too slow. We are talking water at almost freezing and let’s just say that the “old boys” know they had to get a big fly down to the fish in cold water, why? Because that’s what worked best after years of trial and error. One line was used, a big fly was used but the whole presentation was geared to the depth of the water and making sure that very lethargic freezing spring salmon did not have to expend much energy to connect with a salmon fly. Further up the pool the fly was cast at more of a downstream angle and line mended if required to make sure the correct depth was achieved whilst fishing the pool down still hand lining but a little more gently just to keep the big tube from snagging on the bottom of the river.

A superb set of the full range of sizes we have on offer right now copper and aluminium 1" up to 2.5" - grab the set here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-original-brora-willie-gunn-spring-set

The results of these tactics were many January, February and March springers in the net and in the boot of the car because there was no such thing as catch & release. So there you have an snippet into the past of early season spring fishing tactics which were very successful. So, this may be controversial but how many anglers fish as deep as that nowadays early season? I can count on one hand how many and they catch more than anyone. In my opinion modern technology is to blame to a large extent in that people like casting to be easy so let’s put on a floating line with a sink tip and a much smaller fly which can be turned over most of the time. I would say that this definitely results in less fish being caught “but the casting was quite nice” I don’t think the fly gets anywhere near salmon enough these days in very cold water and it’s all down to the fishing tackle that is pushed the way of the modern angler most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, springers get caught on all types of tackle, there are less of them, but, are we really fishing consistently at the depth we need to be and do we try to avoid casting heavy 2 - 3” tubes? Probably. I can give many instances when 2 - 3” copper or brass tubes were needed on the end of full sinking lines in order to get down to salmon lying in the deepest lies in a pool where a fly on a sinking tip would be drifting aimlessly by meters above. So the moral of this story is when temperatures are very low then you need your fly to fish deep to maximise your chances of a hookup. Salmon do not want to move much to grab a fly so get it right down in front of them.There are exceptions but this is the general rule.

Give it a go this spring and make it “the Year of the Willie Gunn” especially the large spring versions of old. You can buy the hot original right here very slightly spiced up by Ron with the wickedest hint of his deadly UV and super tough braid gold body rib - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

A closer up view of our subtle hint of RS UV in the hairwing taking this legendary original to a new level for 2025, We think Willie Gunn himself would have been impressed!

Hope you have a great season, there is more on this story under the fly if you fancy a purchase or more info on this greatest of them all salmon fly right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-original-brora-willie-gunn

This is a very unique upgrade on a legendary traditional highland salmon fly, the Yellow Torrish. Tied many years ago on singles and more recently on doubles, this fly made its name standing out in the peaty waters of the Scottish Highlands catching salmon for fun all through the season. 
Now, as well as legendary salmon flies, there are legendary salmon anglers and 2 in particular jump out especially due to their notability as very successful spring anglers, Mr Willie Gunn from Brora and Andy “Torrish” Sutherland from Helmsdale who perfected their craft on two magnificent spring rivers, the river Brora and Helmsdale where opening days have produced many sparkling springers. 

Andy Sutherland has just celebrated his 70th birthday, ( Nov 2024 ) and this was the perfect chance to design a salmon tube to commemorate the skills of yet another highland legend with a huge connection to the Torrish estate on the river Helmsdale where he spent many a day working there and of-course still regularly fishes there. The Yellow Andy Torrish tube is a superb new version of the old classic which is perfectly suited to spring fishing. This trendy modern tubefly has the potential to spar with the Willie Gunn for top spot in spring in its highly desirable black & yellow dress. But, then add the magic! Andys brother Ron has been at the cutting edge of fly design for the last 30 years and he has also caught many January springers. Taught flytying by the great Megan Boyd, Ron has an insatiable drive when it comes to salmon fly design, relentlessly pushing the boundaries to create that ultimate fly. He has taken the Willie Gunn and many more to so many new levels with his incredible skills using a blend of tradition and new flytying materials and he has now done it with this latest Yellow Torrish.

So, we have designed and put together a series of monthly sets of these unique flies which will grace any fly collection and give you a fantastic chance of catching an iconic spring salmon. The first set is ofcourse owned by Andy Sutherland and you now have the chance to grab a piece of history and purchase a set for yourself.
The set consists of 10 tubes, 6 copper and 4 coneheads in sizes ranging from 2” copper to 1/2” conehead. Stunning quality, unique to Helmsdale company and exclusive to only 3 very lucky set owners per month. As the fishing season moves on fly sizes will decrease until we tie some up on silver Partridge Patriot double hooks for summer. Sets are boxed in our favourite "Perfect" tubefly boxes and come with 6 x tube doubles.

Dont miss out on these historical rare boxed sets, hit the button to see if you have been lucky enough to secure one for yourself this month. Buy now right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-yellow-andy-torrish-full-set-boxed.

With Christmas and the new season fast approaching we have been very busy designing and tying some stunning new salmon flies. Some just needed an upgrade like all our Solar tubes to give them better balance and an even more visible presence. Other new tubes have come onto the scene with great results through the autumn like our red UV Cascade Alistairs which we have now turned into spring colours.

The latest stunning new design is our new RS UV Yellow Andy Torrish which you can see and order below. Also we are very excited about our new Chartreuse & Yellow Monkeys which are a beautiful blend of the two best selling colours.

Most of these flies are in our Premium fly Category but they are also scattered around their other appropriate categories, you will certainly be able to find them if you want them.

One very pleasing thing for us is that anglers are popping in pre-season orders which allows us to get flies ready well in advance of the "madness" of all the opening days of the season ahead. It makes sense to pre order with us as you may otherwise need to wait for those cherished new flies.

One last thing, we have cracking fly selections available now for Christmas gifts with each order coming with 6 FREE flies right up until the Christmas last post. So please have a good look around for some stunning new flies and great Christmas gifts for your fishing friends

We have the quality, reliability and best atlantic salmon flies in the world, grab some for your friends and also stock your box for 2025.

The stunning new RS UV Yellow Andy Torrish tube which you can buy here along with our new Solar Chartreuse & yellow Monkeys and perfect boxed Christmas fly selections - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php