17/03/2008

High water spoiled fishing for most of last week on the Helmsdale.

High water spoiled fishing for most of last week on the Helmsdale. Only the very top of the gauge at Salscraggie was in evidence until around Thursday when things began to settle. Robin Gardner however did manage to find a fish in the torrent on Tuesday fishing the South bank of Kilphedir pool on beat 2. Towards the end of the week Lower Torrish (Bt 3) provided a fish for Torrish rods and Beat 4 recorded its first 3 fish of the season for Suisgil & Badanloch. The Graham Robertson party saved the blank for Kildonan on beat 2 on Saturday netting fish in the Park and Kilphedir pools. The river has dropped to 1ft now so prospects for the week ahead look excellent, total now 17.

With Spring fishing in full swing, now is the time to make sure you get the best out of your set up. If your casting is letting you down you can improve it fast by checking you have the correct line for your rod. Half of the pleasure in fly fishing is in watching your fine line turnover across the water covering all the best lies (catching a fish is a bonus!). To maximise your chances of hooking up with a power packed Springer make sure you have the correct line rating for your rod, this might sound very simple but all to often I see people having to struggle badly to force a line out when infact this should be almost effortless - at the end of the day the rod and line should bare the load of all your efforts - not your shoulders. If you prefer to Spey cast, Rio & Carron have a range of amazing lines designed to make casting very easy for all abilities. For overhead casting a good quality double taper will suffice, obviously I have all these lines at the shop and some on-line (the new Skagit Spey lines are awesome!). If you want some advice on the most suitable lines for your rod or would like to try out some new salmon rod combos please call me as I have rods rigged up with some great demo lines. Shop 01431821372 - Mob 07780861466. Tight lines and get the max from your fishing.

Published on Monday 17 March 2008 by Ronald Sutherland