The Helmsdale is not firing on all cylinders quite yet but there are plenty of fish around and approx 60 off the river for the week including the Association water. I spent a few hours on the water last week (Sat ) and witnessed a good run of grilse around the tide especially, we had 5 interested between us, 3 hooked & 1 landed. As per usual my fiancee Donna bent the rod first and duly added another classic Helmsdale grilse to her tally. The Alistair UV conehead is always her first choice and it proved its worth yet again. 6 fish were caught on the day, Alistair Jappy had 2 before breakfast but the catch was disappointing considering the abundance of fish. Adam Macdonald started to make a dent in the population earlier in the week with 3 on Monday/Tuesday but the rest of the week was tough.

This seems to be the trend this year, very encouraging numbers of fish around but they are proving quite difficult to catch when in the past a mini bonanza would have been had throughout the system. 200+ fish July weeks were not uncommon a few years ago, my father worked on the river for 40 years, I have the benefit of all his experience & stats. The river was also netted at the mouth along with bag nets intercepting the run from East & West too. There are lots of fish around this year, back in the netting days there were huge numbers of fish around and thats the difference. incedentally,  3 pink salmon have now been recorded on the river along with plenty from other Scottish rivers, worrying maybe but we don’t know enough about the issue yet to know if this mini invasion could become a problem. (see pink collection below )

Next week could be the big one, more fresh water hit the system on Saturday so it is topped up perfectly and ready for some serious action! Coneheads should work very well and as you know, we have plenty of the best for sale right here – http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/helmsdale-co-flies/coneheads/tds.html

When the river drops, there are no better flies than the 2 amazing RS Baby TD’s below, these are teamed up with size 14 Partridge Patriot Stinger tube singles to give an idea of how tiny they are. Single hooks suit them very well, you should try them, they take a superb hold and release is much easier. You can grab some here right now - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-baby-td-aluminium-tube-rons-favourite.html

Donna smiling all the way into another Helmsdale fish on the Association water.

Landed and happy! Loop Cross S1 13ft, GDC 9 floater, G4 Loop Evotec 8-10....

One of Adams fish, absolutely pristine, cautht on one of our baby Tds...

When we are on the subject of pink salmon, this is one of our top selling sets for the ladies - http://www.helmsdalecompany.com/the-pink-collection.html