In what should probably have been the best week of season going by the condition of the river, the fishing was an epic fail. Mid April with 1ft 3 on the gauge on Monday morning is as good as it gets but the whole river blanked. Cloudy water due to the rise could have been reason for a poor Monday but things did not really improve for the rest of the week, a lack of fish was obvious. Averaging less than 1.5 fish per day is frankly dire for the time of year.

I was in Glasgow for a few days last week and took the chance to call in at the mega store Glasgow Angling Centre, impressive but a very clinical arrangement. I did however see lots of my Fulling Mill fly designs selling well and as usual, the Rs SuperSnaelda was sold out! we have the same problem here very often. It is a fly like no other and has taken the salmon world by storm, I am currently looking at more tasty options for this best selling tube, see it here - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php?_a=product&product_id=1541

I have mentioned this slow burn downward trend many times in recent seasons, it is something we should not settle for and an increasing number of paying guests are getting rather fed up with poor sport from spring fishing. To be fair the problem is not unique to the Helmsdale, the trend is national, the question is, what can be done ( if anything ) to reverse or stabilise the situation? Unfortunately I think most of the solutions are out of Fishery Managers hands at the moment so tough talking may be the answer in the current Freshwater Fishery Review.
SNH state that Grey Seal populations have been increasing by 7% per year since 1994, what chance do returning fresh salmon and kelts lucky enough to survive have against a massive firewall of lethal costal marine predators? Furthermore, much of the carnage is becoming more common well up river estuaries where fish have little chance to escape the overpowering speed of marauding seals. Incredibly, in the last 2 weeks seals have been spotted above loch Brora and as far up as the Park pool Helmsdale on Torrish estate, I have also heard of other rivers with seals seemingly taking up residence miles from the sea, this madness cannot go on and Fisheries must be handed more powers to redress the balance. If seals enter freshwater, they must be taken out! "Save the seals" and the public will be up in arms I hear you say, but a real effort must be made to protect our fisheries this time round before it is too late.

The fishing instruction season has also begun and I had 3 keen gentlemen out on the water for a morning of instruction and tactics. We have rod and wader hire to help out if you are a total beginner and want to try out the sport for the first time, call us to book a lesson.

We have another superb new salmon fly on show on the Helmsdale Forum and some interesting discussion on all Helmsdale river topics. If you have anything to say - say it on the Forum! The hot topic is the Freshwater Fisheries Review. We have also had notice of the next open River Board meetings ( notice below ) if there are any questions for the Board, please contact me and I will put your views across if you cannot make either of the meetings.

Don't forget that we are still taking orders for the superb Megan Boyd film documentary, it is released next week so contact us to secure your copy.

Tight lines.