Hi All, there is only one highlight from the Highlands this week and it is the launch of what we think is our best ever autumn tubefly design, the RS Red UV Cascade Alistair.

This insanely great looking new conehead comes with either an Fl red conehead or Gold cone and it just screams autumn fly fishing. Including our stunning Cascade Alistair profile, lethal UV, a lush red badger hackle and real junglecock we have no more words to say other than "SNAP SOME UP QUICKLY" or join a very long que to get some tied up for you. Comes with a gold or FL red cone pictured below.

You can buy them here right now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-red-cascade-alistair-conehead

As the season slides past it’s peak the general consensus seems to be that the grilse run did not quite hit the heights of last season but summer salmon were more prevalent, and they are still both running in respectable numbers.

All in all after a very slow start it has come quite good pretty much everywhere. So, as we move towards the latter phase of the season many rivers will be well stocked and up for further sport as long as temps cool and rain keeps topping rivers up. On that basis, we have developed one of our best ever autumn designs. A fly that has been a best seller for us all season and was ready for one of our famous tweaks. It will be launched next weekend so please watch this space for an absolute cracker which we know will be another massive hit.

Keep the fly orders rolling in, best to be ahead of the game and not last minute as the website is very busy.

The summer fishing has been decent and finally we have seen evidence of good salmon runs all over the country. Not so many of the skinny grilse we are used to but a better stump of fish everywhere with a mix of healthy summer salmon. The doom and gloom of spring fishing has eased for the moment and will an autumn run materialise? wouldn't it be nice for a change.

Anyway, The success of our range of UV salmon flies has been stunning and now has a very large following. RS UV Cascade Alistair, RS UV Willie Gunn Legend, Pearly Ally’s shrimp, UV Classic Alistair to name just a few, we can’t tie enough of them with demand. But, this never ends the relentless hunt for evolving new designs and here is another from a twist on our gorgeous and hugely popular Kazcade conehead. Ron has been inspired to tie up a double of that fashion incorporating a beautiful but deadly hint of our electric UV through it.  So, here we have the first batch ever up for grabs tied on Patriot doubles as a very special "Limited Edition" boxed set. Zoom in on the pics, especially the one of the fly underside to get an idea of the wonderful vibrant blend of colour.
The boxed set consists of 3 x 8s, 4 x 10’s & 2 x 12’s and is now available on a first come first serve basis so hopefully you are the lucky angler who gets the first click in to secure your rare set ( see pics below )

You know the script when it comes to our limited edition flies, you need to click and buy right away to have any chance. 
Tight lines and watch out for 2 of our best ever design Autumn fies which we will have online very soon. 

And, we are now more than ever encouraging customers to place winter orders to get their favourite flies tied in advance. The reason for this is that we are having to turn away orders that require tying which are placed in prime time summer when we can only tie a very limited number of flies, business is too busy so please think ahead, what do you need? Micro hitch? Classic Alistairs? Baby TDs? Whatever it is please contact or you may loose out when you get your fave fishing booked up next year. Thank you, we are already quickly receiving advance orders for these.

If you want any sets like this for Christmas presents or general gifts please email us, or also you can please orders well in advance for next season.

A quite stunning set of RS UV doubles, buy now right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-cascade-limited-edition

Apologies for the lack of reports recently but it has been the busiest fly tying season for Helmsdale Co in years, we have never seen orders like it! All good news as obviously anglers are liking our flies especially all our stunning RS range which can only be purchased right here from our website.

The fishing has been patchy recently everywhere with very few grilse appearing in June so things are looking a little on the late side as fish start to arrive now in more numbers. This is not a bad thing as it may extend the summer run into August for fresh runners.

So, make sure you have your supply of Classic Alistair tubes and Cascade Alistair Jc tubes as there are no better summer flies for the highlands - apart from the deadly Pearly Allys Shrimp. Fishing Helmsdale style with a Pearly Allys on the dropper paired of with an Alistair tube as your tail fly you cannot fail to hammer summer salmon! However watch out for yet another very special RS "Limited Edition" fly coming online next week which we think is one of our best ever for summer salmon fishing.

RS Cascade Alistair JC - buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-cascade-alistair-jc.html

RS Classic Alistair - buy now here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/classic-alistair-plastic-tube

RS Pearly Allys - buy here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/allys-pearly-shrimp.html

It is no secret, we now definitely need rain to get the fishing back on track. There are fish around but they are getting a little laid back when it comes to hitting salmon flies at the moment due to the bright dry conditions unless you are prepared to get up very early and fish the late shift.

Since there are not great catches to report, we are going to direct you to our "testimonials page" this week where we have lots of great feedback on our flies from anglers who have fished far and wide with them. These are true stories based on memorable catches and anglers who want to share their success with us. This is great motivation for Helmsdale Co and it is what makes us tick and keep pushing the boundaries of fly tying so we can keep offering you an awesome variety of stunning patterns that just keep catching. Read out testimonials here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/testimonials.html

One of the favourites has been our Cascade Alistair which you can see below in the most popular versions. it has to be without doubt our most successful fly locally, nationally and internationally, not many salmon flies have that appeal or power.

RS Cascade Alistair JC plastic tube - 1/2" 0r 1/4" buy here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-cascade-alistair-jc.html

RS UV Cascade Alistair conehead, also available on copper tubes, many sizes ( this is our long standing original version ) buy here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/cascade-alistair-conehead.html

RS UV Cascade Alistair JC conehead, buy here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-cascade-alistair-jc-conehead

RS UV Cascade Alistair JC Copper tube - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-cascade-alistair-jc-copper-tube

The Helmsdale has been fishing well recently with settled conditions and a steady run of fish. Smaller flies are working well and we have another 2 of the best right here for you from Ron.

There is a story behind the first one as Ron first trialled it on the beautiful West cost river Ewe and had one of his best spells on a river with 5 salmon in a matter of hours. Salmon hit this fly in every pool fished off a 6ft intermediate tip and from that day onwards we knew we had another very special fly here, The Kazcade conehead was born and Ron is offering it mainstream again and tying it himself for you.

RS Kazcade conehead, order now here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-kazcade-conehead

Our other summer sensation is based on our super popular Baby TD philosophy of turning large favourites into tiny summer killers. The Monkey tube has a huge following based predominantly on spring and autumn fishing, well now all Monkey lovers have a stunning tiny summer option right here.

RS Mini summer Monkey with a little touch of Rons favourite UV in the wing., order now here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-mini-summer-monkey-tube.

The fishing struggled a little last week due to bright and calm conditions which were much better suited to golfing. There were certainly fish caught and encouraging numbers of fish seen around the North in general but a change in weather conditions is required once again to top up rivers and get salmon properly on the move.

One thing is for sure, our latest new RS Baby TD is certain to make a splash. Ron has yet again elevated a best seller to give this particular Baby TD an even better look and edge particularly for fishing first light and into the dusk with its deadly UV element. Check it out below and grab some when the tying list is still short because this gorgeous little tube is going to fly and orders will backing up for it very soon.

Also take a look below at all the sizes now available in our great new UV Collie Sunrays which are selling like hot cakes for £1.50 each.

Buy your Baby TDs now right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/new-rs-uv-baby-td

RS UV Collie Sunrays - 10mm, 6mm, 4mm and Micro so you are covered all summer with these explosive tubes in 4 great sizes. salmon and sea-trout will be mad for these all day and into the night. Buy them here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-collie-sunray

It is still spring but it is almost summer and the month of May is the perfect transition of tactics to ease us properly into full blown summer fishing. In May, salmon are still grabbing large tubes and coneheads fished deep but they are also beginning to cast an eye towards the surface with every degree that the water warms up.

Anglers are already enjoying the early fruits of very early summer style fishing by catching fish on the fabled Sunray Shadow which has the ability to pull fish up to the surface from any depth and have a go at the fly with a heart stopping explosion usually, it is amazing to see. Then as we drift into May properly our fly size generally starts to drop ( apart from the large Sunray ). Size 8 doubles and small coneheads are more the order of the day unless the water is really low and clear.

So, Ron has put together a selection of magical may flies for you, all of which are proven fish catchers apart from one which we know will work a treat - our new Golden Pearly Alys Shrimp, another stunning take on the deadly original Pearly Allys shrimp.

This is a great set at a great price with options to have it boxed and with or without tube doubles added, grab it right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/magical-may-salmon-flies-pro-deal

Also, we have a superb new UV Collie/Sunray up for grabs for £1.50 right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-collie-sunray

The Helmsdale has had decent week with 25 + fish off in far from perfect conditions with a washout high coloured river midweek. Torrish rods had the best of it with 9 fish. It would be fair to say that the spring run is now in full flow and Andy Sutherland once again put his trusty Sunray Shadow to good use, this time in the upper Whinnie pool on beat 1 with a sparkling 10 pounder. The Whinnie pool itself was one of the finest pools on the river until a huge spate decided otherwise. That day, the bench on the north bank and the all the structure around it at the head of the pool was washed away to the extent that a tiny new run appeared above the head of the pool, this has now developed into more of a pool. Let’s hope it turns out to be as good as the old Whinnie pool.

On the fly scene we continue to develop new patterns and upgrade others, last week we added a new Solar Sunray to our collection and this week due to the popularity of our new pink flies we have added a new pink UV Solar Sunray Shadow and pink UV Alistair tube. We have so many superb flies you cannot get anywhere else and our loyal customers love this fact and keep coming back for more flies. We also tie to order in the background and below are some of the unusual flies we get asked for. Never a dull moment at Helmsdale Co!

We will probably put all the below PBPs online for sale...let me know via email if you want some in the meantime.

RS BanAlistair PBP ( banana Pot bellied Pig Alistair colours )

Flies heading to the big fish waters of Norway soon - 2.5" Cascade RS Alistair UV tubes and wicked big Pink PBP's tied same form as above.

UV green PBP's

In partnership with https://salmonfishingholidaysscotland.com/ - Superb fishing holidays in Scotland

Most rivers had a decent showing of salmon last week with reports of very large fish being lost too. Good water got the fishing going and at last some salmon turned up.

The Helmsdale had a dozen fish off and they were spread right through the system, the furthest up reported was caught in the Kitty pool on beat 4 above by none other than that man Andy Sutherland who thought it would be worth the walk over the heather, yes it was!

I can also confirm that the Sunray Shadow tube is now getting interest right up on the surface where classically it fishes at its best. The Little Rock pool on beat 6 was the scene of the first sunray attack of the season, and of course, it was Andy who was the instigator.

This leads us into the next subject very nicely. Our flies are catching fish all over the place but that never stops design and innovation at Helmsdale Co. Sunray season has indeed arrived but this is a magical part of the season because you will now still catch salmon on coneheads and copper tubes etc but the Sunray Shadow is another very exciting option which can be deployed very successfully. We have the latest and most unique pictured below and designed by Ron which is going to do serious damage above or below the surface.

We also have just introduced a stunning new UV Alistair conehead pictured below the new Sunray....our great flies just keep coming!

RS Solar Edge Sunray shadow in 3 options of 6cm, 10cm & 15cm which you can buy right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

In sun pic

Underside view

RS UV JC Alistair conehead - grab some here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

In the Sunlight

No sunlight