The Northern hemisphere is defrosting abroad...the salmon are gathering and it will soon be time for many anglers to jump on a plane for the destination fishing trip of a lifetime.

Iceland, Russia and Scandinavia are all ready for another explosive season and we have the gear you need including Seaguar or maxima nylon, Sinking tips, The awesome Gaelforce salmon lines & rods and Loop rods & reels plus Loop doubles which are the favourite for strength and hooking power. Fulling Mill also have superb Silver tube doubles also made by Mustad and identical to look at as Loop doubles.

We have a huge range of great flies with a mix of tradition, innovation and the downright audacious! Check out some of them below and in our last fishing report. We have surface killers, Laerdals, Hitch, Sunrays. We have Tungstens to sniff out the deepest lying fish and everything in between in copper, aluminium, conehead & plastic.

Just remember one of the biggest killers in recent times has been the RS SuperSnaelda in all its deadly forms. We have some great flies tied on salar doubles in stock also like RS Skandi Cascade green butt & Red Butt. Micro trebles, Big Sunrays, just check out the range of doubles and tubes and you will find pretty much exactly what you need.

RS SuperSnaelda - insanely good!

Brora Willie Gunn - as good as it gets at home and abroad, never forget the power of the classic Willie Gunn, these catch salmon for fun!

An RS Special - International SuperSquid.

latest update is a great week for the Association water with around a dozen off last week. William & Alistair Jappy are never far away from the action and had 2 & 3 fish respectively and Jim Forsyth also had a good week picking up 3. The low water is helping the Association water and the usual favourites are all catching, Coneheads, Baby Tds and Alistairs. Further afield our flies are still catching on the Spey, Johnny Gray and his team managed at least a dozen from the Bray & Rothes beats in very tough brigh conditions on Monkeys and Cascades.

Full floating lines are now also becoming the norm as temps slowly rise so its time to grab one of our superslick new Gaelforce Spey lines. Recommendations as a general guide are 8/9wt for 13ft rod, 9/10 for 14s and 10/11 for 15ft. All these lines come in either 54 or 63ft heads and fly out like rockets! especially if you are using in combo with the amazing Loop Cross S1 or SX rods, 4 or 6 piece. There is also a full range of integrated shooting heads. We will soon have more of these rods and the Q series plus Evotec salmon reels for immediate UK delivery.

Dont forget we have the following 6 rods available for demo...Loop Cross S1 15ft 4 pc, Loop Cross S1 13ft 4pc, Loop Cross 15ft 6 pc, Loop SX 14ft 4 pc, Loop Q series 15ft 4 pc, Loop Evotec 14ft 4 pc

Call me especially of you are in the Speyside area and give them a go......and if you want to treat yourself there are deals to be had! Give me a bell on 01343870158 and i'll give you all the advice you need on a personal basis.

Also please checkout some of our superb flies (below) for fishing abroad which is kicking into action very soon, Russia, Iceland, Scandinavia.

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The Helmsdale had it's best week last week with around 60 fish off including 7 from the Association water. A rise in the water really kick started things and could be the start of a big month if history is anything to go by. Prepare for some serious MSW fish to arrive in the system! Grab an Association water ticket if you can at only £25 per rod per day it's superb value for money. Fish coneheads, Sunrays, Alistairs and monkey tubes for lethal results, call me for all those patterns, hooks, Maxima nylon and anything else you may need.

Personally I have scored on the River Spey again at Wester Elchies, loosing a few and catching my fair share on the Solar Monkey yet again, I don't think I've fished a better fly in medium to high water anywhere! The website is going mad with online orders and we are selling Loop rods and Gaelforce lines like never before. Anglers are finally realising that there is more to fishing than just turning up and chucking a fly out on a dull old lifeless rod with a cracked line way past it's sell by date! That's not much fun I'm afraid, especially if you have paid for decent fishing and accom. Why waste the experience? Celebrate it! How do you catch a salmon? Yes, you need luck for one but systematically you need to cover as much water as possible as effectively and effortlessly as possible to maximise your chances and to enjoy the day. It ain't going to happen too often using inferior kit! I've seen far too many anglers struggle to get a line out using un balanced combo's with dirty dead lines and old rods with blanks that collapse as soon as they are asked to load and shoot line.

Ron with another solid Spey fish from Wester Elchies

So, what's the answer? Well, you could sit on the bank and watch everyone else having fun or you could grab a piece of the action and see how technology has blown apart and transformed the art of fly casting. High powered rods with flexes to die for now weigh no more than a few ounces, the lines to match are nigh on rocket launchers and can be propelled almost out of sight with consummate ease. Team up with tapered poly leaders and watch your fly turnover perfectly.
We have everything you need so have a raid on our website or call me for assistance on 01343870158. We have Loop rods for demo, call me for a cast if you want to try them out, I can travel anywhere within reason or I can take you to a stretch of water locally.
Tight lines.

RS Global Solar SuperSnaelda, a superb new addition to our International range.

RS Solar Monkey which has fished great on the Spey this season and elsewhere too.

RS International Tungsten Pig - the quality of these is stunning on 0.25" tungsten tubes

RS Monkey Silver Salar double, always a best seller in UK & abroad especially as they are tied on Salar doubles.

RS Laerdal Sunray shadow Scandi Yellow, big and bad! and gets those huge salmon to attack on the surface!

The cream of the salmon season is almost upon us, many may feel the season is just out of the blocks but the short days of January openings are long gone. In May/June many UK rivers will be hosting their biggest runs of MSW salmon, and yes, many of these power packed missiles will indeed be big! Run trends are evolving and shifting as we speak. Late spring/early summer is the new summer/autumn as grilse numbers deteriorate and classic autumn "grey backs" are fast becoming a distant memory.

Baby Tungsten Monkey, click to buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-tungsten-dee-monkey-yellow-pro-choice.html

So, it's time to concentrate on some serious salmon fishing if you can access it. Get your fly boxes armed with lighter flies like Monkey & Laerdal Sunray Shadow and you will get the fish chasing. These salmon are aggressive and will freely hit flies on the surface now that temps are approaching the magic 50 degree zone. Salmon doubles in 8 & 10s will also start to attract, Golden Willie Gunn is superb, the SuperSquid range is tantalising to say the least but don't bin the legendary powers of Ally's & Cascade shrimp, Silver Stoat and Hairy Mary, all are proven killers and will not let you down on hooks or tubes. Coneheads are the real killers, they add a little weight to the fly and make it swim so well. Silver or gold turns any pattern into a killer and you can fish them at any depth if required, tungsten and copper tubes still have their place, typically in high water or in fast narrow runs when you need the fly fishing quickly.

Laerdal Sunray Shadow Scandi yellow, click to buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/laerdal-sunray-shadow-scandi-yellow.html

There are so many tactical options available to the smart angler now. One scenario that works very well is fishing deep in the warm summer water, as much as they like to chase flies right up on the surface, sometimes salmon prefer a fly presented right in front of them and with very little movement required they just suck it right in. Micro tungsten Monkey in 0.25" RS SuperSnaelda 0.25 & Red Frances conehead are top killers in this department. Your rod and line can be pimped up too for summer, super lightweight rods like Loop are now covering huge distances with incredible ease if teamed up with Loop & Gaelforce floating lines, a total joy to cast! The more water you cover intelligently the better your chances of hooking that fish of a lifetime! call us for use of our demo rodsor to purchase one of these amazing casting machines.

Silver Stoat JC, click to buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/classic-silver-stoats-tail-double.html

Speed up your fly, don't be afraid to "mend" your line towards your own bank to get the big swing on your Monkey and Sunray, strip back too for added speed, the salmon love it so be prepared for explosive takes! Rain is the key, and we need it now. If the water stays clear use the more sombre patterns like Sunray shadow, Willie Gunn and Silver Stoats tail but as soon as fresh water kicks in deploy a conehead Monkey, Flaming Tiger conehead & Feeler tubes for maximin coverage and you will score well.
Enjoy the big chromer season!

Red Frances Conehead, click to buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/red-frances-conehead-pro-choice.html

Flaming Tiger conehead - click here to buy now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-tiger-tail-flamethrower-c/h.html

For our full range and the best quality flies online click here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/

Tight lines

Ron Sutherland

Our 3 + 1 fly deal will close tonight at midnight so grab some last minute bargains when you can, we have superb flies back in stock! Also grab one of our Loop Cross rods and bag a free Gaelforce line, a dream combo! We have loads of exceptional flies like the Willie Gunn below and a huge range of Monkey coneheads and tubes back in stock in plastic, alumin & tungsten, get stuck in if you want to catch springers.

In a new move, we have the following rods available for demo with Loop & Gaelforce lines - Loop Cross S1 15ft 4pc, Loop Cross S1 13ft 4pc, Loop SX 14ft 4pc, Loop Cross S1 15ft 6pc and Loop Q series 15ft 4pc. If anyone would like to try one out, I have a strech of water available at Garmouth & Kingston Speyside, just contact me and we can hit the water.

The Helmsdale has produced some huge fish in the last 2 weeks up to 25lbs, the best was a stunning 30 pounder for Major John Gibbs fishing the Borrobol rods. Ghillie Glen Macdonald put him in the hot spot, Killearnan run beat 4 and a size 8 Tosh did the damage, the fish measured in at 42.5" x 23". Welsh hit squad Andrew Thomas and Gavin Perry had a decent week grassing 5 and the fishing in general has been very encouraging but water levels are now running down and there is no snow on the hills to keep the system topped. Fish are now also being caught above the falls so fishing on the river has opened up right to the loch.

The Association water will now be a very good chance with the river low as there are definite signs of fish milling around. Local experts Alistair & William Jappy have bagged a few in their favourite spots as has Jim Forsyth.

The 30 pounder being released.

Gavin Perry with a chunky springer

One of our best selling quality RS Willie Gunn Specials, we have loads of flies this quality and a huge range of Monkey coneheads and tubes back in stock in plastic, alumin & tungsten.

Don't forget to sift through our new fly listings below (previous report) before we shut down our 3 +1 deal this weekend.

We have these superb Loop 15ft rods available for immediate UK delivery, an amazing rod for the price from arguably the best rod innovators in the world! grab one when you have the chance before we have to order another batch...£310 to your door. 13'2 also available to order...£285 delivered

Many of your favourites are back in stock, I won't bore you with how good they are but i'll list most of them below...

Copper tubes

Flamethrower 0.5 & 0.27

Frances red 0.25

Frances pink 0.5"

Pro Posh Tosh 1" & 1.5"

Tweed Posh Tosh (red eye) 0.75 & 1"

Pot bellied Pig Cascade 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1"

Eternal optimist 1.5"

RS Torrish Morangie 1"

RS Willie Gunn Special 1" & 1.5"

RS Willie Gunn Special (yellow) 1"

RS Willie gunn gold rib original 0.75" & 1"

Tungsten tubes

Autumn Glory TD 0.5"

RS Willie Gunn Special (yellow) 1"

Cascade Shrimp 0.5"

Dee monkey hot orange 0.5"

Dee Monkey yellow 0.25, 0.5", 1"

Flamethrower 0.5", 1"

Pot Bellied Pig Cascade 0.25", 0.5", 1"

Pot bellied Pig Willie Gunn 0.5"

Aluminium tubes

Classic Collie dog 0.75", 1"

Dee Monkey, 0.5", 0.75" 1"

RS Baby Temple Dog 0.5"

International cascade Pig 0.5"

Loop Bottle tubes

Bottle Monkey Black & Yellow 0.5", 0.75"

Bottle Monkey Hot orange 0.5", 0.75"

Brass coneheads

Chartreuse Dee Monkey silver conehead 0.5", 1"

Dee monkey silver conehead 0.5", 1"

Park Shrimp conehead original red head 0.5"

RS Rogie conehead 0.5", 0.75"

Classic Scandi Temple Dogs

Green highlander tung conehead 8cm

Black & orange tung conehead 6cm

Phatagorva tung conehead 10cm

Flaming tung gold conehead 6cm

Willie Gunn tung conehead 6cm

Frances coneheads red small, medium, large

Frances coneheads black small, medium

Plastic tubes/hitch/sunray

Dee Monkey Blk yellow 0.5", 0.75" 1"

Classic Sunray shadow 12cm

Classic Sunray shadow brown/white underwing 12cm, 9cm

Frodin orange hitch 0.75

Cascade hitch 0.5"

Hauger hitch 0.5"

Silver Elver 0.5"

The river produced around 20 last week including a 25 pounder from beat 4. Most rods had fish and Torrish rods had 6, 4 to Andy Sutherland and 2 for ghillie Jean Bain from Kilphedir 12lbs and Lower Caen 10lbs both on the trusty gold bodied Willie Gunn.

Myself, well 2 days on the Spey produced my first 5 of the season including a stunning 25 pounder from Rhynd pool Wester Elchies. Fabulous beat with a range of pools where the fly swings like a dream. RS Mylar Willie Gunn tube had 2 and our Solar Monkey took the other 3 including the big boy. The set up was the usual Loop Cross S1 15ft, Gaelforce 10/11 63ft head & 10ft sink tip 3.9ips. Maxima Chameleon 18lbs and Fulling Mill silver tube doubles size 6, I hooked 5 kelts and 5 springers and landed every one well hooked - great hooks!

We have all of the above for sale, its a superb combo and the proof is in the pudding as you can see below...call me anytime for deals or advice, this gear is becoming highly sought after and its all just a click away! Dream combo!

Lookout also for a huge influx of new flies this week from midweek especially Monkeys in Tungsten etc and many of our out of stock favourites coming back in stock.

Jean Bain 12 pounder from Kilphedir beat 2

Ron 25 pounder from Rhynd pool Wester Elchies on RS Solar Monkey

10 pounder Brock pool on Mylar Willie Gunn

No 2 from Brock pool 9 pounder on Mylar Willie Gunn

Delagyle pool, 7lbs Solar Monkey

10 pounder selfie, Solar Monkey Rhynd pool

A happy Ghillie Sam properly shows off the 25 pounder, very glad he was around to net it for me!

Donna also getting in on the action netting my 10 pounder from Brock X

The deadly flies, RS Solar Monkey which just keep catching springers all sizes and my 25 pounder.

RS Mylar Willie Gunn, I fish both of these flies with huge confidence - because they work!!

The Helmsdale produced around 17 fish last week including a brace of 20 pounders. The unstoppable Andy Sutherland landed his second 20 of the season fishing the Upper Torrish pool on Torrish rods. The stunning fish was sea-liced and in amazing condition, the fly was one of our Cascade Dog Coneheads fished on his favourite Gaelforce floating Spey line with 10ft Gaelforce 3.9ips sinking tip. Corrie Cormack also got in on the act for Torrish rods with a fish from Lower Caen beat 1.

Borrobol rods had 4 for the week, The best was another 20 pounder from Eldrable pool beat 2. They also had fish from the Marrel pool (11lbs) Dyke pool beat 6 (9lbs) and a 15 pounder from Clay Bank beat 5 to round of a good March week  The Association water has also started to produce the goods and Jim Forsyth took a lovely brace of fish at 9 & 15lbs from the Flat pool.

The general consensus in the North is that the spring run is improving slowly, fish are certainly around and all rivers are scoring. The Spey produced fish up to 28lbs last week and availability is very good, especially on the Bray beats ( where the big fish was caught) nestled just above Fochabers and below the famous strech of Orton, Delfur, Rothes and Arndilly.

Andy Sutherland with his 2nd 20 pounder of the season, not the best pic but you certainly get the idea...

The deadly conehead Cascade Dog 20mm,  you can click and buy it here right now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/cascade-dog-conehead-ghillies-choice.html

Our flies and accessories are selling very well and salmon fishing seems positively bouyant! Good numbers of salmon are entering the rivers and that's the absolute key to it all!

Gaelforce lines and sinking tips are best sellers, Loop Q series salmon rods are storming the market also and we are ordering our second batch very soon so get your order for one in quickly, 15 & 13'2 options are available from only £273, simply superb rods for the price! I reccomend them and have bossed 20 pounders with them as you can see from my October 2016 fishing report...

Check out the superb deadly flies on our recent reports below and get stuck in as we are still on a 3 + 1 mode. We have had a few questions on how the 3+1 deal actually works, well its very simple, every 3 flies you purchase we add another the same pattern or similar for free.

Tight lines, get out on the water, there are fabulous springers to be caught everywhere!

The Helmsdale is starting to come alive. The total is up to a heady 20 now roughly. Andy Sutherland scored again on Lower Caen and Kilphedir and fish are coming off everywhere below the falls and running daily now. Helmsdale Co flies are working great not just on the Helmsdale but all over Scotland and you can see our best sellers below. They are flying out the door and anglers are filling their boots with our 3 + 1 deal.

All the flies and many more are available here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/

Cracking fish are being caught everywhere now. Tony Black bagged a glorious 30 pounder on Murthly 2 Tay and fish up to 25 pounds are being caught on the Spey. The North rivers are kicking in also, Pat Nichol had a super 20 pounder on the Thurso, and Alistair Jappy took the first 2 fish off the Forss, the fly? An Alistair TigerTail of course as pictured above. The Ness is also waking up, Gordon Armstrong has had 2 off his Ness Castle beat in the last week, A Black/yellow Monkey tube doing the damage.

If you have not been out yet, its time to grab some fishing as the spring run is well and truly on. The Spey has good availabiliy and Fishpal has plenty more to chose from. http://www.fishpal.com/

Check out this short piece I wrote for the Fulling Mill Blog, some good tips for early season fishing - http://blog.fullingmill.co.uk/2017/03/07/spring-salmon/

A shot of one of our Rs Silver Wilkinson tubes whilst fishing the Spey below Fochabers. The combo of Loop Cross 15ft, Gaelforce 63ft head + 10ft poly is stunning, rocket launchung in every way. Yes, we have them for sale also if you ever need to treat yourself! call us for best prices.

And for those of you who are not mad about constructing your own loops on the end of sinking Poly leaders we have these 10ft Loop to Loop tips from Rio which have welded loops at both ends. Check them out right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/loop-to-loop-sinking-tips-10ft-pro-choice.html

The Helmsdale had its best week last week with around 5 fish reported but unusually nothing from beat 6 yet. Water temps are not exceptionally cold so this remains a mystery as beat 6 is normally where you want to be! I am sure fish will be caught there this week. Low pressure is set to dominate in the week ahead so the river will probably be topped up and unsettled on occasion but it will be fairly mild.

No mystery in our 3 + 1 fly offer apart from a few enquiries as to how it actually works. It is simple, for every 3 flies you purchase, we add another of identical or very similar free of charge. The deal is running incredibly well as per usual and little wonder as we have the best selection and mix of flies available on the internet.

Check out one of our latest new copper tube flies below, these are absolute beauties tied with Jungle cock and whats even better is that they are available in 4 sizes for all conditions. The tubes come in 1.5", 1", 1/2" and an amazing tiny 1/4". We have a twist of UV in the tail as well as a hint of Krystalflash and an explosion of opal mirage on the body. These are our new stock Pro Cascades so snap them up when you have the chance as they will be absolutely flying out the door.