We have a Loop demo day at the Helmsdale Highland games fly casting competition on Saturday 18th August.

Come and try your hand at casting for distance and accuracy using the latest rods from Loop.

We will have the new 3M Loop Cross S1 models on show to try out.

There will be prizes in Open and Confined competitions for the following

Salmon for distance
Trout for Distance
Trout Accuracy

Competitions start from midday, be great to see you there.

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We can now say with confidence that the peak of the summer run was the second week in July on the Helmsdale and Brora, just like old times but the last two weeks have been pretty good if not patchy and nothing to write home about. The Association water has fished steadily and anglers who are putting in a good shift are being rewarded. Visitor numbers on this water peaked in the last week of July and regular Robert Orr probably had the best of it with steady action and landing 4 on Baby Tds and Alistair tubes. Tim Piers Gamble visiting from the States had his first Atlantic salmon in Lower Allan after only 1 hour on the water at 6lbs and he had never cast a double handed rod or fished for salmon before. He was expertly guided by yours truly ofcourse but he did a great job after rising the fish twice, it was landed in 5 minutes and very much enjoyed in La Mirage in the evening. The killer fly - Alistair tube.

Tim with first fish, Lower Allan pool in the background

Another highlight from last week was an unforgettable day on beat 1 for local twins Alistair & William Jappy fishing Badanloch rods for the day with 15 salmon mostly fresh, some estate rods dod not come close to this total for the whole week! great to see locals getting a cast on the private water and boy did they make the most of it. Baby Tds once again doing most of the damage.

I have not missed out on the action either as you can see here - https://vimeo.com/46907736 a nice 6 pounder lunging at the dropper ( Loop double Kazcade ) was duly dispatched for the successful Harbour day Lifeboat raffle. Tackle was once again the super light Loop Cross S1 14ft and Carron Jetstream line. I have never used such a light and powerful salmon rod, it really is a serious step up from all other rods and an absolute joy to fish with.

Prospects for the week ahead look good with more heavy showers forecast to keep the river topped up. We have a better quality of fish running the river now so the Association water is a very good bet at only £25 per rod per day with over 65s half price and under 16s free. Availability is good so get yourself out on the water.

Derek Macrae  searching for a fish on the local water

The deadly Kazcade fly is turning out to be a real fish catcher, especially if fished on the dropper. Buy online right here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1124

The numbers arriving in w/c July 9th (approx 170 caught) did not hold up last week but the fishing was good all the same. Sport was patchy on the beats and quite tough at times if you were not amongst the pods of runnng fish. The Association water had a slightly better week as visiting anglers increased, around 20 fish were caught taking the total for the river to just over 100 or so.

Water levels remain quite low and I would expect the Association water to fish well again in the coming week. There is still availability although it will be quite busy. Catches have been mainly small grilse with a sprinkling of fish between 5 - 10lbs, there are better and bigger to come.

This weeks pics are from Mr Green with a nice 12 pounder from the Style pool on the Association water.

The awesome new Loop Cross S1 14ft with Loop Evotec, Carron Jetstream 8/9wt and a 5 pounder on the new Helmsdale mirage shrimp.

Our deadly little Mirage Shrimp designed by Ron which works a treat - order here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1218

The fishing is improving each week on the Helmsdale as grilse arrive in good numbers. last week reported the best score of the season providing excellent sport throughout the length of the river. The Association water struggled however, partly due to high water levels early in the week. Visiting anglers boosted the catch on Wednesday with 7 off, myself included, the total for the week was around 15. Once again coneheads scored heavily in the peat stained water but the river is set to fall steadily in the week ahead with very little rain forecast. Lower water is preferred for the Association water and I would predict that the next two week will be the peak scoring weeks of the season.

This week there are few photo's but I have acquired a GoPro so we have a link to some action from the Association water here - https://vimeo.com/45763675 - In the short film I am testing the superb new Loop Cross S1 salmon rod and a new budget salmon reel from Vision - both were quite superb in action and for £60 the vision Deep reel was as good as many more expensive reels on the market, good capacity on a u shaped arbour, tight drag system and it looks the part. The loop S1 is as good a rod as you will ever cast, http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1271 so light you can cast single handed and the 3M technology (same as in Hardy Sintrix rods) makes it super strong when a big fish turns up and effortless when you need to cast that extra long line. We also have a full range of budget 4pc Loop XACT rods in stock from £277 - 12ft 6 - 15ft.

Ron's new Rainbow conehead Flamethrower tube which is working great right now.

I note the Helmsdale District Fishery Board have gone live with a new website here - http://helmsdale.dsfb.org.uk/ However, the current river information is a little baffling stating that it is the second longest river in Scotland with a main stem of 107 miles?

The Helmsdale sprung into action last week with the arrival of more grilse. Good water levels encouraged fish to run in numbers and as a result the Association water produced over a dozen fish. Gordon Sim had 3 in the short time he spent on the water and most of the locals scored. The upper river fished well with estates generally faring well. I would estimate well over 100 fish were caught on the river including the Association water score, probably the best week of the season so far.

Coneheads fished great and anglers fishing a dropper over the nect few weeks will maximise their chances. The grilse seem in good condition overall and we are probably heading for a better run than last season if numbers stay on the increase.

Some of our deadly new coneheads below -

Park Shrimp

Ron's most famous and deadly design, the Willie Dog

Cascade Dog

As we said last report, we are stocking up on Loop rods now and on the amazing new Cross S1 rods http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1271 we are offering part exchange. Call us if you want to trade in your current rod for these state of the art models with 3M technology. We will also do part exchange on Mackenzie DTX rods.

Most Highland rivers seem to be coming to life where rain has fallen, the Oykel reported over 100 fish last week. As I write, the River Helmsdale is up to around 1ft 6" so the week ahead should be very interesting indeed, with a bit of luck grilse numbers will keep improving and the whole river will have a super week. The Association water should provide good sport once again and for £25 per rod you can have a great day out with every chance of hooking a few fish.

I had an e-mail from a rather chuffed friend of mine, Susan Capper (below) who this week who got off the mark with a cracking 10 pounder. The little river Strathy was the destination. Her partner Ric Marr hitched up the fish and Susan moved in to seal the deal on a Flamethrower fly, what a devilish double act!

Another one for the ladies, Fiona Muir releases a super 14 pounder from Sand pool beat 1 on the Helmsdale.

The Helmsdale doggedly keeps producing good catches throughout the traditionally quiet month of June. Water levels have been unsettled to say the least but rods are still finding steady sport. Fresh salmon are being caught in the teens of pounds regularly which is a good thing I guess but let's hope it is not once again at the expense of a decent grilse run, it's early doors yet so hopefully the summer run will grow week on week from now on. The total for last week would be around 100 but only a disappointing 2 came from the Association water which generally favours low water.

The Tackle Shop are now getting kitted out with all the latest gear from the cutting edge Loop Tackle brand and are the latest Loop Pro Shop on the international platform - 3M technology is the new buzz on the fishing rod scene and Swedish tackle geniuses Loop have one of the only two licenses available to sell it. 3M allows rods to be built much lighter and stronger than before, the technology really is a major step forward in rod building and should totally eliminate any breakages under normal use. Read all about it here http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1271

Our flies are making big news again, this time in Russia. The new RS Super Snaelda is murdering fish all over the place and proving to be a huge success for many anglers - call us if you want some, we have them available in limited numbers in sizes 0.5, 1" & 1.5" they will suit the current high river levels in the UK so get one on the end of your rod! below is just a snippet of what's going on.

Dee McColgans 29 pounder on Yokanga river on the RS Super Snaelda

We also have a great offer available on some of our unique Feeler tubes including some RS Super Snaelda below - superb high water flies totally exclusive to the Helmsdale Company and designed by Ron Sutherland. Buy them here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1278 and only 10 sets are available so its "first come first serve"

Many thanks for tuning in - tight lines

In a week when the river was twice boosted with spate water catches did not really spike. I had the luxury of guiding all week on Achentoul rods last week so I had a front line view of proceedings. As it happens the Dugdale party on Achentoul had the best of the sport ending on 19. David, Alan & Mike had the bulk of the fish with Mike's wife getting in on the act between rounds of Golf for her first Helmsdale fish from the Whinnie pool beat 1 below. Mike Timmis ended his week with a super sea-liced 14 pounder from the woody pool 1 above to take his personal total to 13 salmon and 6 sea-trout. The killing combination was a size 10 Kazcade double on the dropper and an Alistair hitch tube (fished conventional) as the tail fly, an unbeatable combo last week.

Torrish and Borrobol both had 12 for the week and the total was around 70 including 5 from the Association water, the ever present William Jappy scored with 3 and brother Alistair 1.

The breakdown total of salmon seemed to be 50% stale 40% fresh and a sprinkling of grilse.

A few pics from the week - Michael Timmis with a 9lbs fish from Dempsters pool beat 4 on a very bright sunny day with Easterly wind.

Playing another fresh one in lower Caen pool beat 1 below

The deadly Kazcade double on the dropper

Mike fishing beat 1 above in good water.

Alison Timmis with a sparkling tide fresh grilse from Whinnie pool beat 1 below

The Alistair hitch tube which just kept on catching fish

To order these flies simply click on the links below and enjoy the action you are going to have! they will catch atlantic salmon anywhere.

Alistair Hitch tube - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=877

Kazcade double - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1124

Tight lines.

The beats reported a healthy 90 fish approx last week in a week when cold Northerly winds once again kept the temps down. Flaming June has not showed it's face yet and anglers are scoring as a result. Cool water temperatures are always preferrable in the summer. Although the river is at summer low, salmon are still running in good numbers. Coneheads, wee doubles, small plastic tubes and Sunrays are all fishing well.

The Association water is also starting to produce a few. William Jappy made his first impact of the season in style with 3 fish on Monday morning and Geordie Sutherland also got off the mark. Another one came later in the week for William followed by one from visiting angler Norrie Wilson. But it was the sea-trout fishing which grabbed most of the headlines. With the low river, favourable tide and sea-trout pouring in, there was always the potential for good sport. That was proven correct when yours truly landed 11 up to 3.5lbs on the Tuesday night. Another 7 solid fish followed on Thursday with some of the best nightime sport witnessed in years. Many more were caught during the week by all who stayed out late, I would estimate that around 60 - 70 trout were caught over the 1lbs minimum size. The top flies were CDC doubles pictured below and you can purchase them here right now http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=11

Ron's deadly CDC sea-trout doubles

The Brora is also fishing remarkably well in the low water conditions, There were 6 off the lower Brora on Monday, one of them (pictured below) which was fooled by one of our Kazcade doubles pictured in scissors. Surprise surprise, you can also buy them here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1124 a superb summer fly which ticks all the boxes.

The upper Brora had a good week in the low water also. I was talking with one of the party on Saturday who told me that they caught 18 all on a Hitch fly, a super result and obviously the correct tactics deployed for the conditions. food for thought! below is a classic Icelandic Collie dog hitch pattern which works a treat in the UK. Fish these tiny tubes on a short leader off a floating line and watch fish hit them on the surface as they wake across the pool. If you have not fished this method before I recommend you try it this summer - believe me, it works brilliantly! buy some here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=49 these team up with size 12 doubles or silver vmc trebles.

Tight lines

This week was spoiled slightly with adverse weather conditions and unsettled water levels but the river still provided some super sport if you were in the right place at the right time. From what I can gather (with no mobile phone signal in the area for the last 3 days) Kildonan rods have had another solid week with over 20 fish and the total tally will probably make upwards of 60 fish.

The Association water started brightly with 3 off on Monday but cold North easterly winds dogged the river for the rest of the week making for poor fishing conditions. We did have a welcome rise in water levels midweek to around 1ft 6 and another rise on Friday up to 2ft. This unsettled things but John Hardy Sutherland (junior) made the best of the slightly inproved conditions on Saturday by landing a cracking 16.5 pouder from the Upper Allan pool on a conehead tubefly, he went on to do the double from the same pool later with a 7 pounder. John travels the world working for oil company Macdermots but his base is in Helmsdale where he enjoys nothing better than fishing the river on his holidays. His father is well known Ghillie, Johnny (Hardy) Sutherland) who has ghillied for Borrobol rods on the Helmsdale for over 40 years. Charlie Tams on a visit from Wick also got in on the act with a 7 pounder from the Flat pool and Peter Macmillan added one to his tally, Saturday was a very good day with 4 off the Association water.

John below with his tide fresh 16.5 pounder.

Prospects are good for next week once again so sharpen those hooks! Association water day tickets only cost £25 per rod per day and we have plenty tickets and deadly flies available. Oap's are half price and under 16s get on for free.

Latest -The week finished with around 80 fish, Borrobol rods had a super 7 on Saturday taking their total to approx 22 to head the scoring.

I am reporting early this week (Friday) due to the extended bank holidays. It would appear that Achentoul rods dominated the sport last week with a fine show of 15 fish in the book expertly guided by George Sutherland. Regular visitors and angling partners Ted & Sam shared around 6 (pics below) caught on our mini Temple Dogs and coneheads and word has it that most of the other fish caught by estates also succumed to small coneheads. In a week of low water the scoring has been surprisingly good as anglers welcomed the cooler air & water temps. Around 65 fish have been reported, strangely, no fish have been taken from the Association water.

There are signs that a few sea-trout are in the system as a nice fish of 3lbs was taken by David Mackay fishing Roaries pool. Check out our deadly range of sea-trout flies here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/admin/docs/home.php?homeLang=en and have a look at my first design below, the CDC Blue. These flies have proven irrisistable for sea-trout on midgy balmy nights, it's the ultra mobile CDC which turns them on we think! there are 3 in the series. The Blue CDC, Black CDC and Black Brahan CDC which fishes incredibly well on the Aberdeenshire Dee especially.

Ted Bowers with a tide fresh fish from Clay Bank on beat 5

Sam shows of a cracker also from beat 5.

Meet the RS Super Snaelda which bagged over 70 fish to the rod of Greig Thompson (salmonfishings) on the Russian Varzuga and Kitza rivers last week - an awesome new design which you can order now - call for details of this deadly new tubefly from Wednesday June 6th on our return to work.

One of our new picture postcard shots of the Lower Woody pool beat 1 above from last week.

CDC Blue sea-trout fly

27/5/12

The North was bathed in sunshine last week apart from the odd interruption of an Easterly harr on the coast. High pressure and an easterly flow are not condusive to top sport when it comes to salmon fishing. All things considered we had a hard act to follow if last year was anything to go by. This week last year the Ian Muir team of husband and wife smased all records for Kildonan rods with 43 for the week! a year on and the the conditions demanded the same application but in a more constructive way, we had a completely different challenge with bright sunshine and difficult clear low river but remarkably the same team topped the week with an admirable 10 fish. It was a superb effort by Shona Muir who made all the headlines this time round landing 6 of the 10 recorded from Kildonan showing some well executed tactics and super precise presentation, well done to Shona, a fabulous score indeed in very testing conditions.

The total for the rest of river amounted to around 35 including 3 fish from the Association water. Regular visitor Gordon Stuart had a morning to remember landing 2 fish up to 14lbs on a Cascade fly from the Well pool and streams and Peter Macmillan also netted a 6 pounder. We are now on the look out for the sea-trout to arrive anytime - the midgies have made an appearance so the sea-trout are not far away. Get stocked up on our CDC sea-trout flies for great sport - these new concept mobile flies invented by Ron are super deadly for sea-trout as proven first time round on the Helmsdale river last year. You can order right here now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1125 

Tight lines.

20/5/12

From my weekly feedback it would seem that approx 70 fish were caught last week. Water levels were very good for most of the week after a washout on Monday but most rods had some decent sport. Kildonan rods would appear to have had the best of it with 19 fish and Borrobol were hot on their heels with 18. The cold spell of weather dictated tactics and fairly large copper tubes and coneheads fished well. The weather for the week ahead looks to be settled and dry with more seasonable temperatures so maybe we will have the luxury of fishing floating lines, smaller tubes and doubles. We have loads of great new fly options available now. The Association water was surprisingly quiet but Alistair Jappy saved the blank again with a super 15 pounder on his favourite deadly 0.75" copper Alistair tube. The fish was hooked in the same pool that his record breaking 27 pounder came from the previous week - Upper Allan. With the river set to drop this week the Association water should fish better. Day tickets are great value for money on this beat at £25 per rod per day, 70yrs and over and 16 and under are half price.

All the deadly flies below are available to buy now right here in a range of sizes so get stuck in, you need an edge! check out all our flies as we have many new options back in stock.

The beautiful Alistair Gold tube

The legendary Willie Gunn Double

Modern Yellow Torrish double

Explosive Flamethrower tube

Deadly Cascade Feeler double

How can you resist these flies...order some now while stocks last!