We have just learned that the river opening in Jan 2014 will be open for a full week for the first time. The opening ceremony will take place on Saturday 11th at 9.30am and afterwards anglers will be able to fish (excluding Sunday) until the follolwing Saturday. This gives anglers greater flexibility to fit in a cast and should bring in lots of anglers who have never fished the river before. Everything will be weather dependent but lets hope it is kind and a few sparkling spring salmon enter the river.

The final week of the season did not produce great things as the water dropped away again. The season will be remembered for being the driest overall in Scotland for 30 years. A winter practically without any snow to cover the hills to feed the river and a summer without rain of any consequence provided challenging conditions for the angler to say the least. The luxury Badanloch compensation water kicked in early to aid migration but this alien water did not help catches, it raises the water temps and fish generally hate it, infact a retired water bailiff amusingly told me "Dam water is it the best salmon conservation tool that the Helmsdale can weild"! well at least many fish were saved and should spawn safely!

We still continue to offer free lines with the purchase of a salmon rod to our members only on here and we will have a massive pre season fly bogof so watch out for that one. The Club Helmsdale membership continues to grow weekly although I am puzzled as to why members are not using the new Forum to share some interesting Helmsdale river info or make points about the river, NOBODY is going to BITE!! we are all grown ups and want the best for the river.

Why don't members all introduce themselves and state their favourite fly for starters, we may find out that there are a few killers out there we need to have in our own flybox!

I will also open a section on other rivers where we can chat about experiences/catches on rivers other than the Helmsdale. Give it a go...you'll be surprised how easy it is.

Watch out in the next week or so as I will be uploading a very interesting report about the river where some historical findings provide incredible statistics!

I am abroad until mid October and will be in only sporadic contact with my email therefore this report will remain unchanged until I return.

Please have a go on our new Forum, this platform was introduced to get some interesting discussion moving about the river. If the Forum is not user friendly please tell me why ( on the Forum ) or simply hit the "comments" link on this page and we will improve the format. 

The last week of the season has so far been difficult as we have missed out on all the rain again....story of the season! The good news is that it looks like the Opening days of 2014 will be 4 free public fishing days from Saturday 11th to Wednesday 15th excluding Sunday. I'll now be looking for an invite down to the Tweed in the meantime!

I had the pleasure of creating a new fly for the recently born Royal baby a couple of weeks ago, check out the article here  -  http://www.northern-times.co.uk/News/Helmsdale-fly-tier-creates-unique-salmon-fly-for-new-baby-prince-20092013.htm

The river had a stunning week last week with probably over 200 fish off. The week started off with lots of rain but nothing apart from a very slow weedy 2" creep entered the river. A few fish came off but nothing special, then the river lifted a little more to around 8" by Wednesday which seemed to spark the river into action. The highlight was 25 fish off beat 1 to Suisgill rods followed by around 20 to Kildonan rods on the same beat, lots of fish were hanging around on the lower beats and many were on the move to the upper river to their spawning grounds. A sprinkling of fresh fish were also caught throughout the river.

Top scores for the week were around 58 to Suisgill and over 40 to the Wiggington party on Achentoul who unluckily also lost around the same number. The Association water had a good day on the Wednesday with around a dozen fish off. I took the liberty of an extended lunch hour and had 3 on a Willie Dog conehead, William Jappy had 3 and Johnny Hardy had 3 in the Flat pool on a Sunray. Mick Buttery added one as did Peter Macmillan and I heard of another. Alistair Jappy had 2 on Monday and William 1, I also had a bar of silver Tuesday. The week ended on the Local water with around 20 and a super week on the river all round.

This weeks special offer is free lines flies with any rod purchased, as you know we have all types of Mackenzie DTX and Perflex rods on offer along with the amazing new Loop Cross S1. Make casting easy and treat yourself to a hot new setup!

Another awesome new range of flies have been added to our collection and we will be taking forward orders, let me know what you think of them by starting a thread on our Angling Forum - (first 6 comments get freebees to try out!!) Skullheads have an even more dynamic shape than the standard coneheads and look amazing in the water, I have been testing them from conception and they can cartainly catch the fish! As soon as I saw them on baitfish flies I knew they would catch salmon in freshwater on tubes and I was hot onto the vice to design a range.

Pre-order the full set or a half set for Christmas on doubles or trebles, these are the coolest new salmon tubes on the market.

RS Skullheads

Time is running out fast on the Helmsdale and there are only 2 weeks to go. The good news is that it has rained hard and there is more to come tonight and tomorrow, I'll be looking forward to a day off on the river Tuesday fishing some nice spate water hopefully!

The river gave up quite a few fish last week as Borrobol rods got off to a good start on beats 2 & 1. Monday was windy and cool and fish were up for some fun with many taking, rising and pulling once again. Interestingly the fly that was causing most havoc was an Icelandic pattern fished on a tiny treble size 14 - the Hauger, pic below

Total for the week must have been in the 50's so not all gloom & doom

Some pics of the low river with stones not seen for many years, below is the tail of the Flat pool at the top of the Association water

The Marrel pool

And finally, meet Ruby our new SuperSnaelda designed on Saturday for a customer. I think it is the deadliest looking Autumn fly I've ever seen!

Call us to order....

Latest fly Bogof closed but we will have another soon, thanks to all who took advantage..

Last week was almost a non event on the river and a non event with my internet connection at the weekend hence the late report. The good news is that temps are steadily dropping and this week has produced 8 fish in the last 2 days for Borrobol rods. We are seeing stones on the river which I only remember seeing as a boy! This is interesting in itself as all those high water salmon resting spots are abundantly clear now and the bed of the river is giving up it's mistique in most places. 

Alistair Jappy had the only real success on the Association water landing a cracking 3lbs sea-trout on a Baby Td tube whilst salmon fishing. Not much else happened apart from most of the fish that were lying there appearing to move upstream or back out to sea with the uncumfortable low water level.

The forecast is looking very promising for rain this weekend, this could be the low pressure we have been waiting for, lets hope we finally get a meaningful downpour and the season can explode back into action.

I have created another new fly which I like the look of for autumn salmon fishing, I am calling it the Red Hot Alistair due to the radiant red badger hackle which gives the fly it's striking red Alistair appearance. let me know what you think of it on the Forum and feel free to contact me if you want some.

Speaking of the Forum, it would be nice to see a few more users on there to get some interesting Helmsdale discussion going. Don't sit on the sidelines, have some fun, make a post and let us know what you think of the river, its pools, its salmon, its beats, flies, tactics, rules whatever, get those fingers moving, nobody is going to bite!!

Here is the latest action video from Team Loop and their associated adventure filming team - watch out for the guy hooking the tarpon and wait till you see his line screaming past his boat, unbelievable power and speed but the Loop cross s1 rods handle everything no problem, and yes, we have them in the shop and online! this month we are offering free lines with these extra special rods, call us for great deals. 

http://www.motivfishing.com

We are letting our latest fly BOGOF run until the end of this week (Sunday) so fill up the coffers when you have the chance, don't forget to put Club Helmsdale BOGOF in the comments section and also please feel free to have a go on our new Helmsdale river Forum. Just sign in with a username, wait for authorisation and off you go!

Last week was a non event on the Helmsdale, probably 30 - 40 fish maximum. The water is still dropping and although there are lots of fish around they are not easily tempted. Anglers who are prepared to chop and change tactics are scoring better than most.

The Association water provided a handful of grilse for William & Alistair Jappy and David Melville landed a nice 8lbs fish. lots of fish around again but treasing them up to the fly is becoming a real challenge hence the lack of information for this latest report. Rain will change everything and we are all still hoping for that big flood to end the season with a bang!

We have upgraded some of our fly selections recently in time for the Christmas rush. Fly selections make grand stocking fillers so don't forget where to get them. Below is a hot one for female angling friends, the Pink Collection...we have many more.

Norwegian Selection

Russian selection.

Another pic of our gorgeous new Alistair SuperSnaeldas below which you can now order anytime, call us or email. These will work brilliantly in coloured water.

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Latest river Report below. But fthis week the major highlight is a fly BOGOF on all flies available online - you must put "Club Helmsdale BOGOF" in the comments section when ordering to qualify or you will not receive the BOGOF. Please also call the shop if you prefer. This covers almost all flies apart from some of the Helmsdale Special flies like Alistairs and Red Alistairs which we have to tie to order.

Also we still have our handy tube vices at half price for Club Helmsdale members and we are starting a more interesting topic over on the new Club Forum. We are asking for views on the river rodding set up and whether or not you think there should be more rods available on the river. I have had countless anglers in the tackle shop who are less than impressed with the strict rodding regime. They said that the high price paid for the fishing should offer more flexibility so that Lodge parties can fully utilise the excellent fishing generally on offer. "Even if some of the kids could have a chuck with a trout rod whilst the adults were fishing" was one comment which stuck out...feel free to comment over on the Forum. Sign in with a username (wait to be authorised) and join the discussion...

We have given up on rain here and the fish are getting fed up also! The beats are struggling apart from odd days of success on the lower river and most of the fish have seen most of the flies and they are getting decidedly more difficult to excite! If the water cools down things may change as the spawning urge kicks in. A fair percentage of the fish being caught are still fresh salmon and there are more to come. Most rivers in the highlands are awash with fish waiting at the river mouths so I would predict good fishing to come yet providing we get a spate before the season comes to an end only 5 weeks from now.

The Association water produced around 5 fish towards the end of last week so maybe the water is indeed cooling down and freshening up.

One of our awesome new flies below is the Alistair SuperSnaelda hot on the back of the success of our worldwide killer RS SuperSnaelda. It should do the business on the Helmsdale for sure in coloured water. These can be tied to order once my arm is functioning normally again!

Some pics of another first fish success on the Helmsdale last week courtesy of Badanloch rods.

On the afternoon of Friday 16^th August, Jemima Landale caught her first salmon...and put her father, managing director of the top fly manufacturer Fulling Mill, to shame. Badanloch ghillie Alec Fraser had just taken Jemima into the head of the Oasis Pool on beat 3 (?) to teach her the basics of salmon fishing. The water was low and the sun was beating down – in short, not great salmon fishing conditions. “To be honest, I didn’t think we stood much a chance of catching a fish,” commented Alec. “I was all set for an afternoon of teaching Jemima and her younger brother Ottie to fish, when suddenly the line tightened. No one was more surprised than me!”  After 10 minutes and some wonderful runs, Jemima brought a 5 ½ lb cock fish to the net. The requisite photographs taken, the fish was returned to the river to continue its journey up the river. Jemima’s father proceeded to fish the rest of the day, but failed to match his daughter’s feat. So, another Helmsdale first and one that just goes to show that fishing is indeed a true leveller!

Fish on, steady as she goes.

Almost there...

Relief, fish in the bag.

The prized first fish.

Returned safely, job done and smiles all round.

The Helmsdale is running out of water and rain is now desperately required. last week still reported around 60 fish which is good going in the low clear conditions but with only approximately 6 weeks to go we need proper rain to really boost the season. The Association gave up very few but next spate and it will be the place to be so keep a close eye on the forecast.

I am struggling to type this week due to a rupture of my lefy bicep but hopefully things will improve with some rest and tlc, not so much fly-tying for a while but ill be designing plenty for inclusion next season.

Our fly BOGOF is still on with all the flies shown on the last 3 fishing reports and i am pleased to say that there has been excellent take up on joining the new exclusive Club Helmsdale setup. With the offers available to members it really is a no brainer + we have a Helmsdale river Forum which will gather pace as the nights get longer. We hope for some interesting discussion on there where members can talk freely about the river.

Once again we are offering a great deal on our tubefly vices for half price so call the shop and purchase one anytime. 

We have an interesting insight into the fulling Mill HQ in Kericho Kenya this week - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fvK-CCMMoc One of the best tiers over there ties one of our new Tiger Willie Gunn Coneheads, as you can see, he (Tadeo) is well in control of the situation, a great guy and a brilliantly talented fly tier, even under pressure!

Helmsdale hosted the annual Highland games this weekend and the North of Scotland open fly casting championships. Kildonan Ghillie Martin Grant won the salmon distance casting with a super cast of 159 feet. The rod used was the new Mackenzie DTX Perflex 15ft and our usual Carron Jetstream Competition line of 105ft head did the trick. The overall trophy went to head water bailiff Peter Quail who came second in the salmon casting but also won the trout accuracy and trout distance, Peters wife Mary-Anne won the Ladies open salmon casting to complete a fine double casting 91ft.

We were delighted to have Loop CEO Gordon Sim helping out this year again and he had a fine selection of the new Loop Cross S1 rods demonstrating their amazing 3M technology. Everyone who picked up one of these rods found it very difficult to put them down again, so light and powerful and casting the tightest loops with extreme accuracy. These rods are the new "must have" rods on the market and a Loop reel to balance offers anglers a very hi-spec outfit difficult to equal. Call us for the absolute best deals on these awesome rods and reels.

Some pics of the weekend games casting activities.

Gordon Sim demonstrating a Cross S1 in suitable attire!

Some of the Angling Club Boys running operations.

Last years trout casting winner Pete Daniels

Things are slowing down here now after a pretty dour week. Once again the river has missed out on all the rain and has dropped as a result. Compensation water is running out and unless it rains very heavy very soon we are going to struggle on the fishing front. I would estimate between 50 & 60 fish are off including only a handfull off the Association water.

Borrobol Ghillie Glen Macdonald had an early fish on Monday morning from the local beat but Alistair Jappy had the best of it on Thursday catching 2 fresh grilse and rising lots on tiny tubes. Most of the grilse are still depressingly small for the time of year but there are still good numbers of fish around in the estuary and sea, the next spate should give the best week of the season.

We have added some more flies to our exclusive "buy one get one free" fly offer and they are listed below with a few pics. last weeks flies are also still included in the offer. Please state BOGOF FLIES in the comments section if you are ordering on-line so we know you are taking up the offer.

Black Brahan doubles, top sea-trout and salmon low water flies in 10,12, & 14s

Silver Shadow Shrimp doubles in 4, 6 & 8s

Yellow Shadow Shrimp doubles in sizes 6, 8 & 10s

Red Allys Shrimp trebles in sizes 10, 12 & 14s

RS Super Snaelda in 0.5" this is our best selling new fly all season at home in good water and abroad.

RS Mosquito in 0.5" & 0.75, a deadly plastic TD style tube with innovative aerofoils and boar bristles. Fish these lightweight tubes on any sinking line or tip.

Our secret new flies this week are a selection of fabulous Alistairs in various shades and prefrences - everyone has their favourite tone and we can tie it up for you anytime in tube or conehead form. if you fancy another colour let us know - maybe green is worth a try? We will have these for sale to the general public next summer.

Please have a go on our Angling Forum and lets get some Helmsdale fishy discussion going, tell us your favourite pool? your best catch? or worst loss! just sign in and we will connect you asap.

Tight lines

The river still gave up over 90 fish last week which was a great effort considering we missed out on all the rain again and could only muster a few mm. Badanloch rods headed by Ian Muir scored best with over 20 which was roughly the score from the Association water. 

Monday was a good day with 4 fish off early doors from the Jappy Twins, Jim Forsyth had the biggest fish of the week, a super 12 pounder with sea-lice from Roaries on a Cascade, John Sweetman and Adam Macdonald also both got in on the act. Tommy bird had 2 one afternoon and Peter Macmillan had his best week of the season with a handful of grilse. This will probably be the peak week unless we get water very soon but we would at least expect the fish to improve in size. last week saw many tiny grilse in the 2 - 3lbs bracket, surprising for early August. Daughter April Louise also had her first brownie on loch Fhearnan this week, A daddy longlegs did the trick fishing off the bank in her new waders!

Don't forget that we have an Angling Forum up and running now where you can post your fishing stories and start some interesting discussion on the Helmsdale river. I note that Suisgil Estate is back on the market for 7M, interesting topic to discuss maybe...

We still have a bogof on the flies from the previous report and will change this next week. The Simms wader deal is still up for grabs and we have a cracking deal on our tubefly vices which are reduced from £25 to half price for members here - please quote half price vise if you want to purchase one and call us to pay on 01431821372 - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1038

April with her first Brown trout, I think she is hooked as well as the trout!

Jim with his 12 pounder

John Sweetman with a nice 7 pounder

Yours truly with the wife and friends Adam & Mia Macdonald enjoying an evening on the Association water.

Our video of the week is this superb promo from Loop tackle on their new GDC shooting head lines - watch closely to see the unbelievable V-Loop rocketing across the river. http://vimeo.com/68340715

Many thanks to all who have signed up for the new report, we now have the Club Helmsdale Angling Forum up and running so please feel free to sign in with a username and enjoy the chat and make some posts/comments.

The river fished ok last week but it is getting harder and harder to persuade fish to take in the low warm water. Over 50 fish were caught including 12 from the Association water. Achentoul rods had the best of it with 10 but they were all well earned. There are loads of fish around right through the system and if the rain forecast materialises then we are in for a killing soon. 

The Association water provided 10. Adam Macdonald got proceedings off to an early start on Monday morning with a grilse from Roaries followed by 2 from Mr Marsano. Father and son team Orr then took 4 between them, with the highlight being the performance of young Evan Orr (11) who lost far more than he landed but he was delighted to grass 2 nice grilse for his efforts and stay in pace with his dad Robert. Alistair Jappy had one of the other 7 fish landed on one of his flying visits home from the North sea. Vince Kaney had a fish on Saturday and Sandy Malone persuaded 2 from the streams also on Saturday. All in all a decent week but hopefully there is even better yet to come.

A delighted Evan with one of his Helmsdale grilse

There were still good numbers of fish arriving on the Helmsdale last week and we have some footage of them below. I also got out and about for a spot of saltwater salmon and sea-trout fishing last week and as you can see, there were plenty finnock around. I hope to get back out this week to catch a few bigger ones and a salmon or two.

We are still running with the same salmon fly Bogof as last week so snap some up when you have the Chance. Below we have one of the Bogof Kylie shrimps catching a lovely wee golden coloured pollock, this fly seems to catch anything and it was hauling in the saltwater Finnock also!

Finally we have "Buy one get one free" special offer on the following flies for new Club Helmsdale members only. Please add "BOGOF" to the comments area when ordering so you get your free flies

RS Kylie shrimp doubles size 14

Rs Logie silver salar doubles size 11, 13, 15s

FL Frances gold trebles size 10 -18s

FL Frances silver trebles size 10 & 12s

Frances magenta trebles 14 - 18s

Frances magenta copper tubes 1", 0.5" & 0.25"

Collie Dog silver double 14s

Collie dog black double 14s

Collie Dog silver treble 10s 

Collie Dog black treble 8s

We also still have the Simms waders on offer  - please view last weeks report.

Tight lines

Welcome to the new Club Helmsdale fishing report and blog. As a registered Club Helmsdale member you have now joined an exclusive club of anglers with the best interests of the river Helmsdale at heart. You will now access the best tackle offers we have, you can participate in exclusive members only "buy one get one free" offers on flies and watch some up to date videos and enter chat about the river in the comments section ( new forum coming very soon ). We will be launching hot new fly patterns and if anyone wants to ask questions regarding these please feel free to contact me via the comments section and I will try to get back to you asap. We also hope to have some exclusive "Club Helmsdale" merchandise lined up in the near future with a selection of caps and sweaters available.

You are also now a member of our Club Helmsdale Anglers Club. This is a new concept online Angling Club where anglers will have a say in all matters relating to the river as we will be communicating as a body with the Helmsdale River Board. No matter where you live or where you fish, if you have anything to say about the river Helmsdale, here is the place to say it. This club will also communicate with Angling Clubs in the area and keep up to pace with all that is important and going on in highland fly fishing.

The fishing on the Helmsdale last week was reasonable again considering the persistent low clear and warm water conditions. Around 60 salmon were accounted for including 7 from the Association water. The warm water is definitely having a detremental effect on the fishing but the forecast for the week ahead shows signs of heavy rain moving up from the humid South - a bonanza could be just around the corner!

Small and tiny flies are all the rage with micro hitch and Td's still fishing great, wee doubles and trebles in 14s and 16s too.

Alistair Graham popped down to the Association water with son Fraser for a quick cast and Fraser promptly grassed his first salmon at 4lbs (below ). the deadly fly was a Kylie Shrimp and for someone who has never cast a fly from a double handed fly rod it was quite an achievement.

The deadly fishy RS Kylie Shrimp which you can buy right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=929

As promised, we also have some hot new exclusive flies for you to try which we will introduce shortly. Here we have a new take on the legendary Alistair tube. We have added some dyed wild boar to the hairwing and it works an absolute treat! please contact us if you want some tied up. We have named it the Alistair Shrimp.

We also have a short action video for you to enjoy, it was on an Association water sea-trout fishing trip recently when one of our first shoals of grilse appeared at dusk. A large Sunray Shadow was quickly deployed to offer a meaningful silhouette to counteract the bad light and a grilse was hooked after the normal explosive take! unfortunately a nuisance trout grabbed the dropper and made things very interesting on the wee rod!

Finally we have "Buy one get one free" special offer on the following flies for new Club Helmsdale members only. Please add "BOGOF" to the comments area when ordering so you get your free flies

RS Kylie shrimp doubles size 14

Rs Logie silver salar doubles size 11, 13, 15s

FL Frances gold trebles size 10 -18s

FL Frances silver trebles size 10 & 12s

Frances magenta trebles 14 - 18s

Frances magenta copper tubes 1", 0.5" & 0.25"

Collie Dog silver double 14s

Collie dog black double 14s

Collie Dog silver treble 10s 

Collie Dog black treble 8s

Finally we have an amazing offer on a pair of new Simms G4Z waders size (L) which were purchased in error. The retail price is £799 - we will take £600 - its a great deal for someone! Waders shown below, post at cost. These are the absolute top of the range on the market!

Tight lines and we hope you enjoy our improved fishing report and exclusive members offers.

We also invite you to join our discussion on river matters. Our first topic is gentle and we are asking if there is anything you would like to see improved in general on the river? Please click on the comments option below to open discussion on the river.