The Helmsdale season faded out quietly due to a lack of water. The river does not totally rely on rain for a lifeline as it is blessed with a vast reserve of dammed water at its head but there is nothing like fresh spate water to get the fish going, this has sadly not materialised recently. ironically the heavens decided to open on the last day of the season and as I write, flood warming’s have been issued throughout the UK. However, the river still produced well over 800 fish in a season blighted by Covid closure and low water. Many rivers experienced similar conditions but many more did catch some rain and had some very good fishing. The good news is that there still remains around 90% of salmon rivers open in Scotland so dont put the rod away quite yet, most are open until the end of October and the mighty Tweed system runs until the end of November.