The Helmsdale had another reasonable week with around 70 - 80 fish off with over a dozen from the Association water. The grilse are definitely running now but not in huge numbers. If you are lucky enough to meet a pod the sport can be fast and furious. The quality of fish are generally good with a little red vent showing up and a few 2 lbs fish but on the whole they are in plump condition.

Brian Maskel grassed a couple early in the week on Cascade Pigs when the water was dropping and starting to look good, Mick Buttery had 2 from Horseback on Willie gun TDs and I managed to keep my eye in by landing a lovely fat 5 pounder from Roaries pool midweek on one of our deadly Helmsdale shrimp doubles fished on the dropper. John Sweetman rolled in and had a 4 pounder but the classic visit came from Andrew Gordon from Edinburgh. Andrew popped into the tackle shop late Thursday afternoon hoping to get a ticked for the evening, he hired one of our rods and just used the fly that was on the end, 1 hour later he had landed 2 fish of 2.5lbs and 9lbs and was very happy with himself indeed! Both fish were taken in the Style pool at the top end of the local water. The fly was one of our new RS Kinermony Rainbow coneheads. Click here to buy now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-kinermony-rainbow-conehead-p2095.html

RS Kinermony Rainbow conehead.

RS Helmsdale shrimp Loop double, click here to buy - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-kola-sparkle-shrimp-loop-double.html

5lbs grilse and Helmsdale Shrimp impaled

Quality grilse caught on quality loop tackle!

The Style pool earlier this week at around 9" where Andrew Gordon had his 2 fish.

The Helmsdale had a better week and a sprinkling of grilse arrived to get the summer run under way. Once again unsettled water levels made fishing unpredictable and difficult as heavy rain lashed down sporadically over the catchment but incredibly around 80 fish were recorded. Many were coloured but a good percentage were sizeable fresh summer salmon and grilse. Pods of quality grilse showed up from time to time everywhere and were in great shape going against the recent trend of red vent and skinny fish. 10 year old Harry Hemsley made sure he got in on the action this week fishing Torrish rods when he grassed a gleaming fresh 6 pounder. Clay bank beat 5 was the pool and the fly used was an Alistair conehead.

The Association water struggled all week with the high coloured water but a settled window appeared on Friday and Loop Tackle CEO Gordon Sim took full advantage landing 3 sparkling well conditioned grilse. He lost 3 others and Peter Macmillan also landed one. An intermediate tip and RS tungsten conehead Cascade Pig was the tactical choice that paid off for Gordon on the day.

One of Gordons fish (below) prior to release.

The deadly RS Cascade Pig tungsten conehead, click here to buy now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-cascade-pig-tungsten-conehead.html

We are now also back in full swing this week after a midweek break in Glasgow when I attended my daughters graduation from Strathclyde University. A fabulous few days were had by all the family and we are very proud of her great achievement. She leaves the academic front and starts with a superb new opportunity in London at GSK as a global systems analyst very soon.

More news on the job scene as one of our young local anglers and fly tiers Jordan Marshall joins Helmsdale Co for the summer tomorrow. Jordan is an excellent prospect and keen angler and has learned to tie flies to shop quality extremely quickly, his enthusiasm for fishing will serve him well in the tackle shop I'm sure and we will have some of his own fly patterns available to buy very soon online so look out for them.

Jordan below with a nice fish this season.

It may be summer but it did not feel like it on the river as far as the fishing was concerned. All rods struggled to find fish in a taking mood. Conditions were not the best but good water levels certainly made the river look very fishy indeed. A good spate on the Sunday set the river up as good as one could expect for the week ahead but things remained a little unsettled and thundery. A few grilse were indeed caught and spotted but they were very few and far between.

Achentoul rods bumped into a pod on beat 6 Tuesday and landed 2, lost 3, they were well conditioned fish of 3 & 4 lbs. The rest of the week remained rather uneventful and no fish to my knowledge were caught on the Association water. However, Saturday produced a few and took the tally up to around 35 for the week. It's quite unseasonable right now with a clear gap between the last of the late springers and better summer fish and the arrival of the grilse run. 

Prospects for next week should be reasonable as long as the rain holds off and fish come in but the forecast is telling us different. Low pressures are lined up to hit once again from the West on Monday/Tuesday and the river is sure to rise at some point again. Midweek is cooling down markedly with the wind backing Northerly and another deluge looks set to hit on Friday.

So, in the event of little action to report from the river I have some superb new flies to show you to perk up the viewing and spirit here! We have designed some awesome looking new RS Tiger flies just in time for the summer run (hopefully). The double version of these flies have been tied on the famous Loop doubles for ultimate strength and hooking power. Green & blue are big colours abroad especially in Iceland, Norway & Russia and now even the Swedes are hammering Baltic salmon on these colours. Don't forget that blue and green flies have caught many huge fish over the years in the UK, Green Highlander and Silver Wilkinson were big favourites for decades and should not have fallen out of fashion... These cutting edge new takes on the old themes make for very aggressive looking flies and the fish hit them hard! We hope you like them, you can buy them here right now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/

RS Kola Tiger Blue tube

RS Kola Tiger Green tube

RS Kola Tiger Blue Loop double

RS Kola Tiger Green Loop double

Another pic of one of our other deadly tubes, the Cascade Alistair. as you can see, fish inhale them well!

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.