We have some great new flies uploaded this week, some of which you can view on our homepage. We also have lots more sizes in stock for summer in many patterns - Crathies, Cascades, Silver Stoats, Yellow Boar Flamethrowers etc, have a good look through the flies and see what's available now.

The Helmsdale gave up approx 90 fish again last week, however, The Association water continues to struggle with the high water and only produced 1 fish for local angler Archie Miller.

Estate catches varied from around 12 to mid 20s for some but a fair percentage of fish were not fresh run. The main late spring run has eased a little as might be expected for the time of year, we are now looking to the grilse run to build week on week. There are signs that these small fish are around but numbers are very scarce at the moment. Sea-trout have been running in good numbers but the river will need to drop before sport begins through the night. Once again it seems to be mainly coneheads & Cascades which are proving to be most effective in the peaty water.

On another fishy note - During the week I was invited to fish the lovely river Ewe on the West coast by Scott Mackenzie - what a day that turned out to be! Scott had organized a dealer day to show off all his new lines and rods. I was one of 5 tackle dealers in action and I was keen to set myself up with Scott's new DTX 64ft head Spey twin colour line on my 15ft DTX rod. This i did and I added a 5ft medium sink poly leader with 9ft Maxima 12lbs and my new Kazcade tungsten conehead + Guideline size 10 treble hook.

Little did I know what was to follow! I was there to try out all the new DTX lines and rods, 5 hours later from a 9.30 start I had landed 5 salmon of 15, 14, 12, 11,& 10.5lbs, Ghillie/river keeper Raymond Dingwall just kept on smiling!! I made him work hard!!

The river Ewe is a short powerful river which drains the famous and extremely picturesque Lock Maree for around 2 miles to the sea. Beautiful varied pools and scenery make fishing there very enjoyable whether you catch anything or not so to catch 5 on my first visit was as good as it gets! if you ever get the chance to fish the Ewe, grab the opportunity with both hands.

The tackle on display was exceptional, new DTX Spey lines in sizes 51ft head, 54 & 64ft head + 2 new shooting heads which are slightly longer than the norm to aid anchoring without adding any poly tips. I tried them all with a very open mind and I have to concede that Scott and his new business partner Andrew Toft (who designed many of the Carron Jetstream lines) really have something here. The lines have new slick toughened coatings and they are very supple offering an unbeatable turnover. They will also retail for less than Rio & Carron lines when they become fully available. These lines are the future and Scott and Andrew have covered every base. I have to say that the set up was a an absolute pleasure to fish with all day. I certainly proved that the DTX combo helped catch salmon and I covered the water with ease, the rods and lines were so well balanced they practically fished themselves. One point to note was that one of the guys struggled in the morning with the 64ft floating head on a Hardy Swift 15ft rod - he swapped to the DTX 15ft in the afternoon and could not believe the difference, he enjoyed his fishing from then on!

Watch out for the new DTX lines & shooting heads - they are about to hit the market soon and I predict they are set to make a very big impact! just like the rods. Keep an eye on the web-site for the new lines to appear as I will have them for sale as soon as I can get them.

Many thanks to Scott, Andrew & Raymond, these guys really know their stuff, absolute experts, they know how to fish, cast and design and that's why the DTX range of rods and lines are here to stay and give lots of pleasure to lots of anglers worldwide. Call me if you want to chat about or try anything in the DTX range. 

Here are a few pics from my unforgettable the day. The biggest of my 5 from Macordies pool.

Swinging the new white DTX 64ft head Spey line across Macordies pool.

Head Ghillie/river keeper Raymond Dingwall secures my 5th from Lady pool after a tussle mid river. Its tough to get there and even tougher to land one especially at 14lbs.

And last but not least - the deadly new Kazcade tungsten conehead, this fly took all 5 fish on the day teamed up with Guideline treble hook, 5 fish hooked, 5 fish landed. This fly is amazing and only invented in conehead form a few days before my Ewe visit. I think it is one of my best designs to date and it obviously works a treat on a half inch plastic body.

Tight lines.