Every year Helmsdale Co run a competition for guessing the pool which will produce the first springer of the season. It's usually done on the Tackle shop counter via a lucky dip draw. This time round we are cranking up the competition and changing the format in aid of the Archie Foundation for children. I would ask that all anglers keen on a punt who recon they know their stuff should have a go. The cause is extremely worthwhile and in the end somebody is set to win a very very special prize. This time we want YOU to select the pool YOU think will give the first fish, if you select the fly too then you add a bonus to your prize. The competition will be run online and from the shop counter. Each week I will update the pools and bonus flies chosen on the Helmsdale Co fishing report. When the first fish is caught, the names against the correct pool will go into a draw in the shop and the winner will be drawn by the angler who catches the fish. All proceeds will go to the Archie Foundation and the winning ticket will scoop a superb quality prize from the following equipment (Loop Salmon rod, Simms Primaloft fishing jacket, Mackenzie DTX spey intermediate line, Gaelforce floating shooting head line, Carron Jetstream sinking, £100 worth of salmon flies, together a huge prize worth in excess of £1000 and all for just a £5 stake or any donation above. This gear is the best of the best and is well worth winning. Please post your pool, name and contact number by telephone or via the Just Giving page here - http://www.justgiving.com/Ronald-Sutherland You can also drop into the Tackle shop to enter in Helmsdale. Someone is going to be very happy with this awesome prize!
Incidentally, the captor of the first fish wins all the usual spoils of the Bridge Hotel Trophy, A bottle of Clynelish Whisky, a selection of our deadliest Flies and this time round a superb Simms primaloft lined GoreTex wading jacket or Loop Rod. All eyes on the Helmsdale river January 11th, if you are the only person to pick the correct pool you win outright. Good luck! Please share and have a go, all Helmsdale pools are listed on the Just Giving page and below.

Please select from the following pools.

We are now taking Christmas orders for our hugely popular range of personalised Glenmuir cashmere and lambswool sweaters made in Scotland. Embroidered text of your choice left/right arm or chest position with 30 characters maximum, Crew or V neck. Drop us an email or call us on 01431821372 to order. These sweaters are top quality and perfect for fishing, shooting, golfing etc. Prices from £64.95 for lambswool, ladies or gents in a large range of colours.

We also have great end of season deals on Loop Lainio & Simms jackets, call us for details or pre-order best price gear for next season.

The final catch stats are not quite yet in hand but I would make a calculated guess based on ghillie feedback at a figure of around 1500 fish caught over the whole river. That might not sound great or too bad but it is encouraging non the less. One of the main factors at work this season seemed to be the sheer amount of new rods/tennants on the river who were first timers and inexperienced salmon anglers to boot. I heard many instances of "there were plenty of fish around but we couldn't cover or catch them!" The spring was modern day normal with rods having to work hard for a fish. May and June saw a good strong run of msw salmon. The July grilse run was sporadic and well spread out but not heavy on numbers. June was one of the best for seatrout on the Association water for years. Water fell away throughout August and September and the season closed with a week of unseasonable bright sunshine and low water.

The rains have now arrived however and brood stock fishing should be fast and furious as the the river appears well stocked. The SG have stepped back from issuing kill licenses and carcass tagging in rivers it would seem so panic over! the whole gambit was a step too far on the face of it and nobody could quite work out how tags were going to be issued fairly. Another consultation is under way to refine the whole subject. Also on the positive side was the zoning of new areas of conservation whereby rivers and districts were categorised as being in Cat 1, 2 or 3. Cat 1 is the top C & R of 80% and above which is where the Helmsdale sits. Cat 2 is between 60 & 80% and Cat 3 is less than 60% C & R. Basically this means that Cat 1 rivers will be almost left alone to keep up the good work, Cat 2 rivers will need to do better and produce a conservation plan and Cat 3 rivers will need to produce a conservation plan and go on mandatory C & R all methods for 1 year.

The review is not finished with us yet....Sunday fishing, rod licenses etc are still all out there for consultation amongst other ideas, so keep your eye on the ball!

Some random pics from the season and some of the deadly flies you need to catch those autumn fish right up until the end of November on the Tweed.

The first pool on the Helmsdale, the Sea pool if you have never seen it before, between the two bridges.

A typical Helmsdale springer courtesy of Gavin Perry, Wales.

This is how we deal with seatrout on the Helmsdale in summer now! introducing my friend and Sushi expert Adam Macdonald!

Kids on a real team effort during the seatrout run in Well pool Association water, April Sutherland, Annabel and Isla Macdonald showing how its done.

A lovely shot from the Brora early morning at Ford pool.

One of our new deadly Spring flies, the Blue Ass Willie Gunn which netted the first springer first swim on the Association water this year for myself.

These are the flies you need for the spate water coming after the rain which arrived in buckets today. RS Superkrill. Buy here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-superkrill.html

RS SuperSnaelda red/gold conehead. Buy here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-super-snaelda-red-gold.html

RS Hot orange Solar Monkey. Buy here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-super-snaelda-red-gold.html

RS Feeler Red/Black. Buy here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/feeler-black-red-rs-innovation.html

We have many more great flies to choose from so have a good look around the site and get yourself stocked up for autumn here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/

We also have a new shop category onboard, Hoggs of Fife. We will be adding a good range of products to this new category weekly as Hoggs are well known for quality at reasonable prices, guys can do some Christmas shopping! some nice country tweeds and shirts for the ladies and some good gear for the gents, The Brora shooting jacket being one of the new lines! You can start shopping online right here and view some of our first Hoggs products. - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/hoggs-of-fife.html

SOLD, watch out for the next one!

We are starting our "Smash n Grab" season again. These great deals go very fast and are on a first come first serve basis. Email us, or call us during shop opening hours only from 9 - 5pm on 01431821372 to scoop this one up or just order on the link below.
This gorgeous Blue Loop Evotec 9/13 RHW comes with 2 dozen of our best performing salmon flies this season, total RRP 405.00. DEAL only £299. Hit the link here and buy it before anyone else does and its yours - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/smash-n-grab-deal-loop-evotec.html
DON'T mess around, these are class reels and deadly flies.

It was another tough week on the Helmsdale last week as low water persists. Hitch flies and tiny Frances flies scored as well as anything but generally the good stock of fish in the river were hard to please. However, there are lots of big fish around and this was proved in abundance by a trip to the new stream on beat 3 by the Achentoul rods who caught two fish which combined to tip the scales at over 50lbs. 2 huge fish of 25 and 28lbs were caught and more spotted rolling around, (pics and more details to follow). Tiny coneheads were doing the trick and there are none better than the micro Frances pictured below, I have added a size 14 silver stoat double to give scale to the tiny tubes. These will score anywhere right now as all the rivers are low and we have lots of them available. Let them drift deep, retrieve at various speeds and stand by for action!

The magnificent 28 pounder caught by John Roe, probably over 30lbs when it entered the river in the spring.

25 pounder caught in the same pool same day by Mehmet Arkin

The Association water has all but died a death unless we get a spate, there are fish around but we need fresh water to jazz things up again before the season ends next week.

The Helmsdale season may be coming to an end but there is another 2 months worth of fishing on the Tweed and many other rivers so don't put the rods away quite yet, there are still lots of salmon to catch and we have all the flies and gear to make sure you do! Tungsten tubes are deadly for instance as soon as the water cools down. Coneheads and copper tubes also catch many fish. Check out all our killers on-line. We are now taking custom fly orders for next season as I will be tying some flies over the next few months. Email me or call if you need any specials and i'll add you the ever increasing list!

13/9/15

The catch almost halved last week from the week before due to the river dropping back to around summer levels and a nagging upstream wind. A sprinkling of fresh fish were caught again and two sparklers came from the Association water, a grilse from Mick Buttery and a nice 7 pounde sealicer for William Jappy. There is still good availability on this fine fly water. The weather looks to be getting very unsettled in the week ahead so hopefully we will get another lift in the water at some stage.

Don't forget - we are still running a BOGOF on the list of flies below only...there has been excellent take up on this offer so far as the flies are perfect for fishing in the autumn, and the coming spring even.

Good news for the River opening 2016 as Simms Europe are sponsoring the event and are donating one of their latest Gore-tex jackets for the captor of the first fish. This is no ordinary jacket and one of the first of its kind, sure to be a hit with anyone who enjoys their spring fishing. A Gore-tex wading jacket with a Primaloft lining. Primaloft is the top synthetic microfiber thermal insulation on the market, extremely lightweight and warm, a superb jacket for spring fishing and we will have stock of them very soon, if you would like to pre order one of these or anything else from Simms or Loop tackle please contact us. Check out this awesome jacket right here, available in 2 colours, black & concrete. UK RRP £399 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2&v=uARnB4ro2yg

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Not too many highlights to report recently other than the fishing is quite steady and still good numbers of fish are getting caught. Last week recorded around 85 fish off after a good lift in the water. Martin Clark had his first fly caught fish from the Flat pool on the Association water but fresh fish are few and far between although not many rods are on so with the late run I think there are still some nice fresh runners to be caught. We always catch some heavier fish in September so its still well worth a run through this beat, there is good availability so you won't be too hemmed in by other anglers.

We have a very special end of season offer, buy one get one free "bogof" on the selected flies listed below. Also if you are looking to replace your Simms wading jacket or grab a very special deal on a Loop Cross S1 15 foot and Mackenzie G2 15ft rod you should call us on 01431821372 for some very hot deals. We are offering a free selection of our awesome Solar Monkey tubes with these items. Call us ASAP before they are snapped up!

Another superb fly has just rolled off the vice here and we are taking orders on it now for fishing through the autumn, the new RS Red Alistair SuperSquid. This amazing fly is sure to hammer back end fish when you get it down in front of them as the water cools down! Expect delivery in October as our shop is very busy right now and custom fly-tying time is impossible before our season ends on September 30th.

RS Red Alistair SuperSquid.

Check out our list of bogof flies below and just simply order online by clicking the links

RS Ally Dog 3/4" conehead gold - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-ally-dog-gold-c/h.html
RS Ally Dog 3/4" conehead silver - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-ally-dog-silver-conehead.html
RS Black & Orange Aluminium tube 1.5" & 2" - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/black-orange-aluminium-tube-jc.html
RS Allys copper tube - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-ally-s-shrimp-copper-tube.html
RS Pot bellied Pig red copper tube - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-pot-bellied-pig-red-red.html
Park Shrimp copper tube 1.5" - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/park-shrimp-copper-tube-pro-favourite.html
Park Shrimp Aluminium tube 1.5" - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/park-shrimp-aluminium-tube.html
Dee Monkey Hot orange conehead 1" body 5" wing - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-dee-monkey-gold-conehead-hot-orange.html
RS FireTiger copper tube - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-firetiger-tube.html
Inverness Black Shrimp PBP copper tube - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/inverness-black-shrimp-pbp.html
RS Feeler tube Black & Red copper tube - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/feeler-black-red-rs-innovation.html
RS Posh Monkey Hot Orange - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-posh-monkey-hot-orange.html
RS Posh Monkey Radiant red - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-posh-monkey-radiant-red.html
RS Willie Gunn Special Tungsten tube 1" - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-willie-gunn-special-yellow-tungsten-tube.html
Black Boar orange copper tube 1" - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/black-boar-shrimp-orange-copper-tube.html
Allys Shrimp aluminium tube 1.5" - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/ally-s-shrimp-aluminium-tube.html
RS Halleys Comet TigerTail - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-hally-s-comet-tiger-tail-rs-innovation-tube.html
Junction Shrimp Aluminium tube 1.5" & 2" - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/junction-shrimp-aluminium-tube.html
Dee Tungsten Monkey Green 1"body , 6" wing - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-tungsten-mega-monkey-green-scandi-favourite.html
RS Mosquito TD 3/4" tube - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-mosquito-pro-favourite.html

The Helmsdale is still fishing quite well although as the season progresses a wider range of tactics are required to be successful. There is a good stock of fish in the river now but tempting them onto the hook a challenge. Sporadic pods of fresh fish are still showing up, mainly grilse. The river scored around 70 - 80 fish off for the week including about 10 from the Association water.

Mick Buttery got off to a fast start Monday in Roaries & Sewerage pools landing 3 fresh grilse on a home tied Frances conehead and Werner Steiner had a fine 10lbs fresh run fish from the Style pool on a Cascade gold double. Visitors caught most of the fish over the week and all were pretty fresh. Check out the website for loads of great new flies too...http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/

Prospects are still good as there are plenty fish in the river and more to come. As we aproach the last 5 weeks of the season most estates are already up on last years totals. Be prepared to mix things a little from now on, fish hitch flies, frances coneheads and tungstens, sunrays and small SuperSnaelda as well as the usual killers. Standard practice will always bag a few fish but try a dropper, its classic Helmsdale form and should not be overlooked as a deadly way of picking up more fish. The dropper is very often taken after the point fly is ignored as you fish down a pool. Dibble in the fast runs, Red Brae and New stream are classic examples, and there are none areas finer to dibble than the water on beats one & two above. Atlantic salmon have always been keen to rise to flies skated on the surface so don't miss out on this opportunity. On the other hand Frances style flies fished deep get lots of interest in skilled hands. if you can get to grips with swinging these unusual looking flies at the right depth and speed you will also score.

Werners plump bar of silver from Style pool which is pictured below.

The tail of the Style pool at the top end of the Association water which has provided regular sport for anglers this season.

Red Frances conehead which really starts to fish well as the season heads into the autumn, you can buy them right here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/red-frances-conehead-pro-choice.html

Alistair Hitch tube, buy here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/alistair-hitch-tube.html

The Helmsdale had another consistent week with around 100 fish off. Sport was patchy with a mix of fresh and stale fish, fresh grilse are still entering the system. The highlight was a clonking 26.5 pounder caught by Mr John Pette (pic below). Frances and Temple Dogs are catching well along with Alistair tubes and coneheads. I am also getting lots of UK feedback regarding our SuperSnaelda tubes which seem to be fishing great everywhere. As the autumn approaches there are no better tubes fished on sinking tips, when these aggressive looking flies are presented right down in front of fish they can barely resist having a snap at them!

RS SuperSnaelda red & gold is as good as it gets for fishing deep late in the season - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-super-snaelda-red-gold.html

The Association water was pretty quiet. Alistair Jappy had 2 grilse on Monday and 2 came off Tuesday on the back of another spate. Apart from that I did not hear of much more.

The Highland Games Fly casting pulled in a good crowd once again and we had lots of under 16 entrants this year, good to see so much interest from that age group. Jordan Marshall dominated the 16 and under salmon and trout distance competitions while Peter Quail won the Senior salmon distance with 160 feet, Daniel Logie was second on 155ft, Martin Grant 3rd 140ft. Trout distance was won by Robert Flett on 105ft. Maryanne Quail was ladies champion with Connie Denoon 2nd and April Sutherland 3rd. Peter Quail was the overall champion and he kindly donated all his winnings to the "PARKINride" charity organisation who are raising funds for the Raigmore Hospital Macmillan Suite.

I would like to thank Mick Buttery for stewarding and donating the stewards tent this year and Jordan Marshall for stewarding also. Loop Cross S1 rods were used and stood up to all that was competitively thrown at them once again no problem. These rods are the real deal and cast very long with absolute ease wherever they are deployed.

April Sutherland on the trout accuracy

The weather was superb in the afternoon after a dismal morning.

One more item of interest was passed on to me by Otis Ferry on behalf of Tony Andrews, the Atlantic Salmon Trust "Lost at Sea" project. anyone who would like to donate to this worthy cause can do so. details below.

Atlantic Salmon - Lost at Sea

I want introduce you to an exciting project supported by the Atlantic Salmon Trust: the film, 'Atlantic Salmon - Lost at Sea!'

The producer is Deirdre Brennan who has been making this film for 6 years in the rivers of North America, Europe, Iceland, Greenland, and at sea in the Atlantic Ocean. It tells the story of the collapse in abundance of wild Atlantic salmon over the last thirty years.

The film records the urgent quest to try to solve the mystery of the salmon's life at sea and to answer the question: 'why are salmon dying in greater numbers than ever before in their ocean environment and not returning to their native rivers?'

The film, takes the viewer on a journey through the mysterious world of the King of Fish, and highlights some of the important research, conservation and restoration work of AST and others in all the wild Atlantic salmon countries. It describers the groundbreaking research programme to track salmon on their epic migration to try to find out why and where they are dying at sea.

Filming is now complete and it is ready to edit. In order to raise the last 10% of the budget needed, Deirdre has embarked on a Kickstarter campaign to bring in funds to finish the project. Kickstarter is a crowd-funding platform and in its 10 years has raised over $1.6 billion for creative projects, including many documentary films. All projects are vetted in advance. It is an all or nothing principle - if the goal is not reached, then no money changes hands. The campaign is for 30 days and will run from August 6th - September 5th. The goal is £30,000.

Please support this most worthwhile venture. Its aim is to raise public awareness about the plight of our salmon. The film will be used widely at national, regional and local levels to raise money for salmon conservation. By contributing money - as much as you can afford, no matter how small an amount - to the film you are therefore directly supporting our international campaign to save the salmon.

Please see the link below for more details:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1121132260/atlantic-salmon-lost-at-sea

AST, supported by the Spey, Dee and Esks District Fishery Boards, has already contributed £12,000 to the project. Please help us to finish the job, by donating through Kickstarter - even £5 would help. This is a story of hope, and a dynamic way with real urgency to increase public commitment to saving the iconic Atlantic salmon.

We need to act now to save wild Atlantic salmon. I trust we have your support.

With best wishes,

Tony Andrews
Director Atlantic Salmon Trust

Fishing was steady on the river last week with nothing spectacular to report. Fresh fish were still entering the system but seemed in a real hurry through the lower river for some reason. The beats picked away with around 60. John (Hardy) Sutherland had 6 up to 16lbs with 3 in an hour on Red Brae 3 above but generally you had to really work for your fish.

The Association water gave up around 12 - 15 fish or so after a fast start on Monday morning for William Jappy who nailed 3 grilse and lost 2 before breakfast and a rapid 2ft rise. The spate did nothing to boost catches really and by midweek the water was back down to around 8". Experienced Welsh internationalist Gavin Perry and Neil Thomas had all the conditions to deal with and by the end of the week they were on to classic Helmsdale dibbling as the river dropped away to almost summer level. They shared 4 grilse up until Saturday when Gavin ended on a high dibbling out another 2 better quality fish. Sonny Jappy got off the mark too with a fish from the Sewrage pool. Visitor Alan Shearer also had a nice fish midweek but they were not exactly giving themselves up easily.

Baby TDs were still catching and droppers were working well. Its always a risk fishing a dropper but time and time again it picks up fish so well worth a go, Cascades, Allys, Alistairs and Helmsdale shrimps in sizes 10 - 12 are ideal.

Our Solar Monkey coneheads are back in stock now and will fish great in high water later in the season and in spring (pics below). The UV flanks on these tubes really show up superbly and definitely catch the eye of the salmon, get some in your box fast as stocks disappear very quickly on these very innovative flies.

Gavin Perry with one of 4 mint grilse released last week.

Neil Thomas with a superbly conditioned grilse.

The amazing Solar Monkey effect with our range of patterns below.

RS Global Solar Monkey. Click here to buy now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/global-solar-monkey-pro-choice.html

RS Solar Monkey black & yellow. Click here to buy now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/solar-monkey-black-yellow-pro-choice.html

RS Solar Monkey hot orange. Click here to buy now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-hot-orange-solar-monkey-pro-choice.html

There is lots of availability on the Association water and for £25 per rod per day it is definitely well worth a cast! OAPs get on for £12.50 and under 16s are free. Pop into the Tackle shop anytime after 9am to get instant access to the river and a great chance of a hook up.

The beats produced a rather hard fought 55 fish for the week although a good head of fish is scattered through the system. Reasonably numbers of fish are still arriving and the Association water gave up around 15, 6 of which fell to the charms of Adam Macdonald fishing our Baby tds (4) and 2 on an Alistair on the dropper. The fish are good quality and one of Adams solid fish is displayed below with Baby TD firmly attached. Regular visitor Ian Stoddart also had a couple of grilse one evaning on an Alistair Special tube.

Well done to Evan Orr (13) who had a pristine grilse to keep up with his dad Robert, great to see the young guns getting in on the act.

Baby Temple Dogs just keep catching, and you can buy them here right now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-baby-td-aluminium-tube-rons-favourite.html

The river lower Brora is also fishing pretty well especially for regular visitor Jason Chick who has discovered the deadly hooking ability of fishing with a dropper. He had numerous fish on our Helmsdale Shrimp last week pictured below. We have tied them on Loop doubles which have a wide gape to maximise hook ups and these sit great for dibbling in the fast water. They are available in 3 sizes and if I were you I would get one involved in your salmon set up fast! you can buy them here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-kola-sparkle-shrimp-loop-double.html

Prospects are still good for next week. Low pressure is never going to be far away so we can expect more rain moving in and the good news is that it will be from the South and therefore much warmer than last week. There is good availability on the Association water so its well worth a chuck! Tickets are available daily at the Helmsdale Co tackle shop from 9am.

I was away for the weekend so not the best report....A quick update of around 15 fish off the Association water and 85 approx off the river as a whole. Reasonable grilse run but not giving the big weeks of the past. The river is running at around 8" after a top up so sport should be good this coming week, maybe it is yet to peak, watch this space!

My daughter April and I had some fun on lochs and had a good bag of brownies plus a couple of plump ones for the barbi! Can you spot the location?

Baby Temple Dogs are working great right now...check them out right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-baby-td-aluminium-tube-rons-favourite.html