Archive

28

April

Magical May on the way

It is still spring but it is almost summer and the month of May is the perfect transition of tactics to ease us properly into full blown summer fishing. In May, salmon are still grabbing large tubes and coneheads fished deep but they are also beginning to cast an eye towards the surface with every degree that the water warms up.

Anglers are already enjoying the early fruits of very early summer style fishing by catching fish on the fabled Sunray Shadow which has the ability to pull fish up to the surface from any depth and have a go at the fly with a heart stopping explosion usually, it is amazing to see. Then as we drift into May properly our fly size generally starts to drop ( apart from the large Sunray ). Size 8 doubles and small coneheads are more the order of the day unless the water is really low and clear.

So, Ron has put together a selection of magical may flies for you, all of which are proven fish catchers apart from one which we know will work a treat - our new Golden Pearly Alys Shrimp, another stunning take on the deadly original Pearly Allys shrimp.

This is a great set at a great price with options to have it boxed and with or without tube doubles added, grab it right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/magical-may-salmon-flies-pro-deal

Also, we have a superb new UV Collie/Sunray up for grabs for £1.50 right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/rs-uv-collie-sunray

21

April

Another decent week

The Helmsdale has had decent week with 25 + fish off in far from perfect conditions with a washout high coloured river midweek. Torrish rods had the best of it with 9 fish. It would be fair to say that the spring run is now in full flow and Andy Sutherland once again put his trusty Sunray Shadow to good use, this time in the upper Whinnie pool on beat 1 with a sparkling 10 pounder. The Whinnie pool itself was one of the finest pools on the river until a huge spate decided otherwise. That day, the bench on the north bank and the all the structure around it at the head of the pool was washed away to the extent that a tiny new run appeared above the head of the pool, this has now developed into more of a pool. Let’s hope it turns out to be as good as the old Whinnie pool.

On the fly scene we continue to develop new patterns and upgrade others, last week we added a new Solar Sunray to our collection and this week due to the popularity of our new pink flies we have added a new pink UV Solar Sunray Shadow and pink UV Alistair tube. We have so many superb flies you cannot get anywhere else and our loyal customers love this fact and keep coming back for more flies. We also tie to order in the background and below are some of the unusual flies we get asked for. Never a dull moment at Helmsdale Co!

We will probably put all the below PBPs online for sale...let me know via email if you want some in the meantime.

RS BanAlistair PBP ( banana Pot bellied Pig Alistair colours )

Flies heading to the big fish waters of Norway soon - 2.5" Cascade RS Alistair UV tubes and wicked big Pink PBP's tied same form as above.

UV green PBP's

In partnership with https://salmonfishingholidaysscotland.com/ - Superb fishing holidays in Scotland

14

April

Good water and improvement

Most rivers had a decent showing of salmon last week with reports of very large fish being lost too. Good water got the fishing going and at last some salmon turned up.

The Helmsdale had a dozen fish off and they were spread right through the system, the furthest up reported was caught in the Kitty pool on beat 4 above by none other than that man Andy Sutherland who thought it would be worth the walk over the heather, yes it was!

I can also confirm that the Sunray Shadow tube is now getting interest right up on the surface where classically it fishes at its best. The Little Rock pool on beat 6 was the scene of the first sunray attack of the season, and of course, it was Andy who was the instigator.

This leads us into the next subject very nicely. Our flies are catching fish all over the place but that never stops design and innovation at Helmsdale Co. Sunray season has indeed arrived but this is a magical part of the season because you will now still catch salmon on coneheads and copper tubes etc but the Sunray Shadow is another very exciting option which can be deployed very successfully. We have the latest and most unique pictured below and designed by Ron which is going to do serious damage above or below the surface.

We also have just introduced a stunning new UV Alistair conehead pictured below the new Sunray....our great flies just keep coming!

RS Solar Edge Sunray shadow in 3 options of 6cm, 10cm & 15cm which you can buy right here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

In sun pic

Underside view

RS UV JC Alistair conehead - grab some here - https://www.helmsdalecompany.com/index.php

In the Sunlight

No sunlight