Not on fire but still consistent as usual the Helmsdale provided around 70 fish last week. Ian Muir had another good week with 14. There are no grilse to mention yet so it is looking like they will arrive on the late side. We were still in amongst some hefty seatrout on the tidal water and if the river drops again we should have some continued sport in that department to keep local rods happy. The river was unsettled all week and hit 2ft by Saturday.

The Association water didn't fish that well due to the high water but there were around 5 off. A lovely first fish for Matthew Francey really brightened up his day Tuesday at 8lbs from Roaries pool, caught on one of our RS SuperSnaelda. His fishing partner Ian Stoddart also grassed a sparkling 10 pounder from Roaries pool also on a conehead.

Matthew with his first ever salmon which was safely returned.

Ian Stoddart with his gleaming 10 pounder, also returned.

Prospects for the week ahead are a bit difficult to predict. I would say we will see some grilse entering the system and hopefully this will build into a nice heavy run by mid/end July!

Don't forget to clean and check out your line for any cracks or flaws, Spey and shooting head lines are now all the rage and cast huge distances with ease. If you want to maximise your chances in these days of seemingly fewer fish, better get on the bandwagon, watch your casting improve beyond recognition and cover more water! We have all the latest lines in stock and they are on offer with a discount or some of our free deadly coneheads.

We have all the latest conehead killers right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/helmsdale-co-flies/coneheads/tds.html

Tight lines

The Helmsdale remains pretty consistent and fish are still coming in at will on 6" of water. Around 60 - 70 were caught and the highlight was a super 25 pounder for Victoria pilkington from the falls pool beat 6 fishing Achentoul rods. The fish was sea liced and in stunning condition like most of the Helmsdale fish this year.

The Association water was not great last week as most fish seemed to run under the cover of darkness. However visitor Mr Bell managed to grass one at 10lbs from Roaries pool on a size 8 Cascade double. William Jappy had 2 and Peter Macmillan also landed 2.

The star performers for the week were the seatrout anglers. With the tides not suiting perfect there were still loads caught, personally I am on 30 now for the last 10 days and most in the 2.5 - 3.5 bracket. My best night was 9 and experimenting in the high tide payed dividends when a rather large Snake lure was deployed fished at speed. Most of the locals had good bags and Alistair Jappy had bags of 6 & 7 on two seperate nights. Even ginked up muddler minnows are working on the tide but the best sport to be had is when the tide is out and thats how its going to be for the next week. Wee doubles are as good as it gets in Silver Invicta, Butcher, Teal Blue & Silver, Silver Stoat, Peter Ross, CDC Blue and CDC black, these are all working well in various sizes depending on overhead conditions. We have loads of these flies in stock so you can pick some up anytime right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/trout-flies/sea-trout-flies.html

On the CDC theme which has worked so well over the last two years since we introduced it to the sea-trout world, I have designed another new sea-trout killer, The RS CDC Sunray (below), trials have worked fantastic and as when fishing any sunray Shadow fly, these fish best when fished quite square, the seatrout absolutely smash them out of the water!

The Association water has started to fish nicely this week as the water drops away. 8 salmon were caught with an even spread between locals and visitors, most fish came from Roaries pool. Archie Miller had the biggest at 15lbs from the Flat pool. Simon Purvis ended his week with 3 fish by grabbing a double on Saturday and Peter Dawson had 2. Some super bags of seatrout were also taken on the perfect suiting tide when cloud cover was right. Myself and Alistair Jappy had the best of it with 6 each one night up to 3lbs. The whole river produced around 75 so things are fairly steady and encouraging. We now await the first proper signs of grilse running as one was caught last week.

We have cracking deals on rods lines and Simms and Loop wading jackets so call me for a bargain! tyhe buy 3 get 1 free is now closed for the summer, many thanks to all who have taken us up on this offer. Tight lines.

One of the first decent seatrout nights to be had from yours truly below. We have all the deadly flies you need and hands free headlamps as you can see attached onto the loop cap.

Last week in May report

The fishing slowed down a little last week but a healthy 45 - 50 were still caught. A washout on Tuesday did not help the Association water and I only heard of 2 being caught. The beats picked away with Torrish rods catching their season best of 11 for the week with the Denham party. The Highlight of the week was a stunning 26 pounder from beat 3 above to actor Geoffrey Palmer from one of the Chancellor pools fishing Suisgill rods.

With the weather due to settle down and warm up for the week ahead prospects should be good for the whole river including the Association water which you can sample it right here from a view you will not have seen before, big thanks to Otis Ferry for the footage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPiJg3SOMaM

The dropping river will also get the seatrout anglers out in the dark looking to contact one of these power packed gorgeous specimens! I'll certainly be sharpening my wee doubles!

We are still doing great offers on wading jackets from Simms Loop and Vision, we have a big selection of salmon lines on offer also and our "buy one get 3 free" is still running on all flies until the end of the month, Check out some of our superb wee seatrout doubles right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/trout-flies/sea-trout-flies.html

A couple of the very best proven killers,Teal Blue & Silver & Butcher

Butcher wee double

We are still on a "Buy 3 get 1 free deal" on flies so get stuck in, the fish are running and you need to be armed and ready!!

We are also doing some great prices on Simms jackets and rods and lines for June, call Ronald on 01431821372 to grab a bargain!

Another decent week on the Helmsdale is raising confidence in the prospect of a good season. The weather has been very unsettled and quite unseasonal on the temperature side with buffeting cold North Westerly winds but importantly the river height has been good. Earlier in the week it was down to around 7/8ins which suited the Association water and locals took full advantage. The Jappy twins Alistair & William bagging 4 or 5 between them on coneheads and Duncan Mackay also got off the mark with 2 fish in 24 hours. Visitor Mr Slater also had a nice 10 pounder on Thursday and a few fish were seen and lost, it was obvious that the beats were going to score well.

The well travelled Ian Muir had the best of it landing 20 cracking fish on Kildonan rods almost all of which were sealiced and in superb condition between 8 - 15lbs. He commented that there were no seal or dolphin marks or any red vent present on any of the fish and all were released, 2 of which were deeply hooked and cut loose with the hook still embedded to minimise any risk of damage. An exemplary performance of conservation and superb sport. A conehead Munro Killer caught most of the fish. The best fish I heard of was 17lbs landed for Mr Erington by Johnny Hardy. There were around 75 off for the week keeping on a consistent footing which is typical Helmsdale form.

The river is up once again after rising on Saturday to spoil fishing a little but this should set things up for another good week next week. A few seatrout have been spotted running and young Ewan Gordon managed to land one at 1.5lbs and Jordan Marshal hooked a belter estimated at 4lbs but lost it.

Ian Muir with one of his superbly conditioned fish from tail of the Bay beat 3

Shona Muir with another absolute spanker at 15lbs from Clay Bank beat 5.

Coneheads are fishing great and our Cascade Alistairs and Monkeys are hooking fish all over the UK. You can buy all these great tubes and many more right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/helmsdale-co-flies/coneheads/tds.html

Monkey tube

The legendary RS Willie Dog which was working great locally for the Twins on the Association water this week and on many UK rivers. Day tickets can be purchased from the tackle shop for only £25 per rod per day, OAP's £12.50 and under 16s go free.

The fish have arrived on the Helmsdale and the last 2 weeks produced around 80 for the second week in May and last week around 60-70 were recorded. All the usual flies were doing the business and the local water is also giving a few.

One of the highlights was a first fish on fly for young local angler Jordan Marshall on one of his own new "hot head" tubes from Roaries pool, it tipped the scales at 7lbs and it is safe to say Jordan will be visiting the river on a much more regular basis from now on.

Prospects are good so well worth getting on the water which will cost you only £25 per rod per day, oap's can get on for just £12.50 and under 16's go free.

Fish are right through the system now and a cast on the loch should produce some action if the wind favours. Below is a nice fish for Henry Charteris from beat 4 above fishing Suisgil rods.

The Brora is also smouldering along very nicely with good catches reported on the upper and lower sections. Pekka Karkkoleinen displays one of the best which was estimated at 20lbs from Stoney pools. The Naver river produced the fish of the season so far with a 27 pounder for one lucky angler, I hear the fishing has been superb up there last few weeks, things are looking up! Could this be a knock on cycle from the record season in 2010 where figures in show that 110,000 fish were rod caught in Scotland? That was the best season recorded since records began in 1952. lets hope the grilse follow form and fill our rivers this summer also, watch this space!

Big water hampered fishing last week with 2 roaring spates washing out 2 days. A good week was expected on the back of the previous week but the river stayed unsettled. However against the odds another 30 fish were reported and the highlight being a magnificent 7 for Borrobol rods on beat 6 Thursday with fish up to 23.5lbs. Beat 6 is holding back a good head of fish in the high cool water and has fished well with the river in dropping mode. See spate here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxU6oCX0k1A

Borrobol Ghillie Glen Macdonald shows off their super 23.5 pounder.

The Association water also suffered. 2 fish were lost in the Flat pool but Mr Kent Hakansson Sweden dropped in for a cast as the Thurso was also on a washout day, he scored with a solid 10 pounder fishing a Monkey tube.

Kent with his tide fresh fish on the Flat pool running at around 2.5 feet

Well we all know what the real big topic of the week was! I'm not in a habit of getting too involved in politics but I will make the following observation on the General Election result in Scotland. There is no man/woman alive other than a delusional one who could view the result as anything other than a giant step towards independence. Speeded up ofcourse by people like Owen Paterson today showing his condescending best form and mocking the Scots again by stating "they need to stop dipping into the English piggy bank and can't expect to have free healthcare and holidays to Lanzarote paid for by England"! What?? You may get away with inappropriate comments like this in the pub with mates but not on Sky News, which incidentally was so shocked by the rant that they removed it from the end of the video link! Little wonder the Scots want to break free.

Whatever your stance on the matter, it is safe to say that the SNP can no longer be looked upon as a separatist minority and they need to be taken very seriously. We all know the politics and how it may affect our sport. I get the chance to discuss the pros and cons regularly with many angling clients online and visitors/locals in the Tackle shop and from what I can make out, a small minority still seem brainwashed citing horror stories of imminent Mugabe land grabs and their fishing and jobs being ripped away etc, this of course is utter hogwash! Salmon fishing is a heritable right same as costal netting and therefore cannot be messed with. The most grotesque highland land grab occurred 200 years ago during the Highland Clearances and it isn’t going to happen again anytime soon whatever the land reform forecast.

As long as I am involved in the sector I will be fighting for what's best for this river, believe me I know exactly how important the river is to the local economy so a fishing "free for all" which is also being branded around will never happen and anyone using this line to satisfy their SNP bashing stance needs to wise up, grow up, and start looking forward with less xenophobic grievance. There is nothing wrong with an appraisal from time to time, fishery management is long overdue.

So, lets hope the fish keep running - onwards and upwards on that front!

The Russian and Norwegian seasons are about to kick in also so don’t forget that we are on a buy 3 get 1 free on all flies until the end of the month. If you are fishing tubes, we have a good range of strong doubles and singles plus a big selection of great international flies, have a good look through our website or call me for advice on putting a selection together.

I had a client send me a fly I tied for him over a year ago, it has hammered fish abroad and on the Naver 2 weeks ago when 70 were caught in total for the week. I forget its name but it sure looks good and has a sparkling translucent Polar Bear underwing. The fly pic below is unvarnished and rolling off the vice.

Well

As predicted, the Helmsdale sprung into action last week with around 30 fish off. 5 fish were landed Monday before a washout ensued Tuesday. Ian Muir and his team fishing Borrobol rods were expecting a decent week and beat 3 Monday did not disappoint with 3 fish, he went on to grass another 6 to his own rod from beat 6 (3) and beat 5 (3) including a belting 20 pounder from the Swirl beat 6. Meanwhile most of the other rods were bumping into some nice fish throughout the river with one from the Canal pool at the very head of the system, fish are definitely now in the loch. The best fish of the week was a thumping 23 pounder which fell to the rod of Angela Webb fishing the gravelly pool Achentoul rods, a pot bellied pig tube did the job. No fish were caught on the Association water although a little high all week but the most stunning fact of the week would be the absence of a fish from beat 2, this beat offers some of the finest fly water in Scotland let alone the Helmsdale! Hopefully just a blip. As the cold snap and high water continues sink tips with weighted tubes and coneheads will keep catching as long as fish keep running, a timely chance to still take advantage of our buy 3 get 1 free on all flies ( apart from Solar monkey! ).

For those of you who are interested the open Helmsdale River Board meetings come around this weekend again but with another eagerly awaited major Scot Gov Consultation imminent on new Fishery Management structure in Scotland these meetings could be some of the last in the current format. The formation of a National Wild Fisheries Unit and local Fishery Management Organisations are to modernise all aspects of river management through a completely new framework as soon as possible.

Achentoul ghillie George (Hardy) Sutherland with Angela Webb thumping 23 pounder


Ian Muir with his super 20 pounder from the Swirl pool
 

Otis Ferry shows off his sparkling first Helmsdale fish from the Manse pool beat 6.

As I write, unless Saturday provides anything special there have only been 4 fish reported caught on the river this week. The April downward trend is very similar to last year but the good news is that next week usually picks up, recent years have seen upwards of 30 fish off for the last week in April. Stats like this are far from great when you compare with the good old days but in a sea now dominated by an out of control seal population, devastating pelagic smolt (by catch), lethal costal mixed stock netting and sea-lice infestation, are we surprised wild salmon stocks are in decline? The latest Scot Gov figures reported today 45,174 salmon were caught in Scotland which is the second lowest on record and possibly "inflated" by C & R. 8,036 were killed by rod and 17,778 killed bt net http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/04/8717

In steps Rob Gibson MSP with a very timely call for Smolt ranching backed by the Government. In a press release this week he states the following - Salmon smolt release benefits angling...

Caithness Sutherland and Ross SNP MSP Rob Gibson has asked the Scottish Government to consider smolt release on a wider scale as a means to improve salmon numbers in Scottish rivers which has had apparent success in Iceland and in several Scottish rivers.
Mr Gibson says that the Government should consider carefully the idea of allowing smolts from hatcheries to be released into some rivers to help increase numbers. He said that in light of the wild fishing review recommendations that the idea merited consideration especially given the apparent success in Iceland.
Mr Gibson said:
“As climate change takes effect there are fewer salmon in Scotland’s rivers and a new approach has to be looked at. It is incumbent on the Scottish Government to assess the viability of smolt release potential. Although it would have to be done rigorously nonetheless if this is a way to increase the number of salmon and sustainability of salmon in rivers then it should be considered. .
“The Iceland experience on the river Ranga is interesting. From no salmon it is now the country’s best salmon rivers after the release of smolts. It it can work there I see no reason why it could not here as introductions on the River Lochy in Lochaber and River Carron in SW Ross already show.
“The Government has draft recommendations from the wild fish review under consideration. I think that the majority anglers would like to see this approach more widely applied.”

He will ask the following questions in parliament. 

The river is shrinking down to almost summer level now as high pressure dominates the weather. The river as a whole produced around 14 but the trend is still showing a general lack of fish. A dozen were caught in the first half of the week then sunshine and low water pretty much killed off sport.

Mick Buttery struck lucky on the Association water on Tuesday when he landed his first of the season at 10lbs and immediately lost a bigger one in Roaries pool. A home tied MBTD was the killer fly fished on a floating line. 

Prospects are not great for the week ahead with no rain in sight until at least Friday however, this suits the Association water. You can now also languish in the new Angling Club hut which was officially opened on Saturday. Situated opposite the popular "Roaries Rock" hot spot in the middle of the Association water it is sure to be well used by locals and visitors alike.

The new hut open and ready for business.

Earlier in the week I had the pleasure of some guiding and instruction with a party of 4 keen trout anglers, they were salmon fishing for the first time and thouroghly enjoyed the experience. 4 rods and equipment were hired out and we supply this service all through the season. Call us for more details as we have a full programme of instruction on offer per hour on a daily basis.

Getting to grips with salmon rods on the Flat pool.

As another Sunday (day off) flies past, I have been dealing with clients  passing through the tackle shop, the golf course greens are now cut and it's time to knock together the fishing report once I get my breath back! Just another routine Sunday then (in season)

The Helmsdale course coming out of winter hibernation and looking good.

There is not a lot to report, but alarm bells are starting to sound all over the UK as catches continue to plummet. Last year was far from memorable but early signs this year are not exactly showing a bounce back.
From what I can gather the river barely gave up around 11 springers last week including 2 from the Association water and 3 from Achentoul rods. William Jappy had a nice fish from Roaries on Monday on a Willie Gunn as water levels started to drop although still flowing well at around 11 ins. Adam Macdonald took a week on the Association water for a change of scene and finally scored at the end of his week with a cracking deep 8 pounder from Horseback, just reward for his early shifts. The fish took an Alistair fished on the dropper.
Hopefully things will pick up soon as April used to be such a prolific month.

Here are some cracking new Alistair doubles we have introduced to the collection starting with the stunning RS Alistair Flamethrower. They are perfect for "droppers" on all small/medium sized rivers like the Helmsdale.

Classic Alistair

Prospects for next week are good, just as they should be for mid April as historical counter stats all point to a good run of fish entering the system this month. The weather forecast is not showing much rain after Monday/Tuesday so one of the best beats on the river may turn out to be the Association water.

One more thing, leading on from the debate on how to halt declining salmon stocks, I had an interesting email this week, (see below) Is salmon ranching the way forward? personally I have never been convinced that introducing hatchery reared fry is doing much to prop up wild salmon. General thinking is that they are much weaker than wild fry and therefore cannot compete well. Natural selection is always going to be best. BUT when nature needs a prop up due to increasing volatility in the climate which seems to be producing more severe damaging spates etc, maybe an injection in the form of more grown up smolts is the answer. The East Ranga in Iceland is the best known example and another is the Carron river in Easter Ross, Delphi in Ireland and Tyne in England are also similar success stories.

Below is the email and I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the topic - I will start a thread on the Helmsdale Forum to discuss so please tune in.

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"I agree with the Callander McDowell article in reporting that the success in Scotland of a rejuvenating salmon river is the West Coast River Carron.

Bob Kindness, a former fishery biologist from the Inverness College, has transformed our neighbouring river, the West Coast Carron, from a catch of 4 salmon per annum, to over 400.   His technique is to hatch salmon ova from native brood stock, under hatchery conditions, to the stage of parr and smolts and place them in the Carron, soon to migrate to sea.  Accepting that approximately only 5 per cent will return to the river, it is better 5% of 8000 smolts migrating than 5% of 80 smolts which have survived 3 years from ova to smolt in a “winter storm savaged” river, plagued with predators!

Bob’s technique is not original.  The Icelandic Rivers, the West and East Ranga, only 14 miles in length and with a short summer season of 3 months, from no salmon, are now the leading Iceland salmon rivers  with a catch of over 12,000 salmon p.a.    Because of Volcanic ash on the beds of the rivers, the Rangas cannot breed native smolts. The river bank owners appointed a trading entity to stock up to 400,000 smolts p.a.  The cost of a smolt can be as much as 40 pence.   There is a value to the Icelandic economy of £1000 for each salmon caught.   The chances for the angler are more than 1 salmon per angler effort day, instead of one in 5 days on Scottish rivers.   It is not surprising that U.K. and other anglers are deserting Scottish waters for those overseas, where they not only catch more than one per day, but may keep and eat a prime product.  In my experience the hatchery bred salmon fights, looks and tastes the same as the salmon which survived in the river three years from ova to smolt.  Only a count of scales can detect a hatchery bred from a river survived salmon.

Hopefully in the interests of the rural economy, the Scottish Government will look further than the Wild Fisheries Review, for how the River Carron and other rivers in Iceland, Norway and elsewhere have succeeded inrescuing the wild salmon.  The alternative is that many a Scottish salmon river, will suffer the same fate as the Rangas, and not as a result of volcanic ash!

Mark Pattinson

Proprietor, Lochcarron estate

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