Latest Helmsdale report

[helmie]

Its that time of the year again and we are looking forward to the river Helmsdale opening its doors again soon in less than 5 weeks.
Anybody coming up for a wee cast??
The first 3 days fishing are open to the public again from Jan 11th.
Bro Andy Sutherland had a nice 13lbs sea-liced springer last year on opening day so there is always a chance infact it was the first springer caught in the UK this year.
We are delighted to have Scott Mackenzie on hand all day with his new rods and lines on demo. Scott will be situated on our biggest spring pool the Kilphedir pool ( below ) on beat 2 offering tips and demo's with all his new gear. There will also be a refreshment or two to warm you up in the hut.

Scott is sure to be a big draw and this will be a great chance to test his new kit for yourself. If you can cast across the Kilphedir pool with one of his rods, I would purchase immediately!! however, there is another way to get your hands on one - catch the first salmon of the season and a new DTX is yours IF you return the fish safely

There are still a few twin rooms available in the Bridge Hotel at slashed prices of £40 per person per day....call Sophie on 01431821100
The opening ceremony gets under way at 9.30am and the race for the first fish is off from around 10am
Make that call...you know you want to get the rod out and be there ;D

[helmie]

The river Helmsdale will open very soon and Badanloch Ghillie Alex Fraser will have the honour of launching the traditional first cast of the season. The long range forecast looks to be very icy but with a slightly warmer blip on the cards a few days before opening day on Jan11th - lets hope this relaxes the ice and opens up the current icy river. A good supply of 1",1.5" & 2" copper and tungsten tubes will be most usefull with medium sinking lines. The other popular "Scandi type" approach is to fish lighter aluminium & plastic tubes on faster sinking lines or shootingheads. Either way you will be presenting your fly close to the salmon who will be lying on or close to the riverbed.
The anticipation of that first cast of the season is a magical moment and when you have free fishing on the whole lower Helmsdale at your mercy it feels even better. If there is the slightest chance you can get away for a day or two get yourself booked into the last few rooms at the Bridge Hotel for the big opening day buzz. Call me at the Helmsdale Tackle Shop for advice on availability tackle & flies. The first 3 days of the season are open to the public as usual.

We had a super sea-liced springer on opening day 2009 caught by Andy Sutherland on a 2" Alistair copper tube. Beat 1 Lower Caen right bank was the hot spot - It can happen! hopefully it will happen again and lets pray for a great spring in 2010 everywhere.

[helmie]

A few pics of the river recently below showing what we were up against on the opening days...lots of ice then too much water
But hey...this week is looking good
Whinnie pool on beat 1 pre opening - this was the only pool open to fish apart from a few spots on the Association water

Whinnie pool yesterday just a tad higher!

Lower Caen on opening day

Lower Caen yesterday


A few pics from the opening day + opening day report below.

The River Helmsdale opened with a thawing + 4 degrees on the thermometer (today Jan 11th) but this was not enough to shift the 8” of ice which has built up daily in the river since December 18th 2009.
After an assortment of up-beat tunes from the Sutherland Schools pipe band, river board manager Sir Michael Wigan welcomed all to the opening ceremony which drew a larger than expected crowd. He warned the few hardy anglers who had tackled up to take great care on the perilous ice and also thanked Clynelish distillery for providing some fine refreshment and a prize bottle for the captor of the first fish caught.
The longest serving ghillie on the Helmsdale River Alex Fraser (Badanloch estate) was then introduced and led down to the river for the traditional honorary first cast of the season, this he managed in fine style and officially opened the new salmon season.


Unfortunately the eagerly anticipated Scott Mackenzie Demo day had to be cancelled earlier in the week due to the lack of casting space on the river. Scott who has won the World Spey casting championship on 3 occasions has recently launched his new range of superb DTX salmon rods and these were to be on show with instruction on the biggest pool on the lower Helmsdale but sadly it was not to be. The weather has frozen most pools solid for the time being apart from the tidal water! This event is to be re-scheduled hopefully at a later date.

Conditions were tough to say the least with large banks of ice on both sides of most pools and a fair run of grue to pop up that copper tube mid-stream. However, to add some extra excitement to the proceedings a few new Spey casts had to be invented to deal with the extreme challenge on hand “ The Ice Flip Roll “ and “ The Ice Lay Drop T “ both became standard practice by the end of the day!
The Highlights, only 3 kelts were miraculously landed from Lower Caen (Bt 1) and the Flat pool on the Association water by Andy Sutherland & Robert Flett.
Tomorrow is another day.

A wee kelt slides in over the ice

He's on thin ice there!!

First cast by Alex Fraser with Sir Michael Wigan looking on


Still no fresh fish reported...hopefully this week now that conditions have almost returned to normal.

[kingfisher]

Excellent contrasting pictures there Ron. A tale of two halves right enough

kf

[helmie]

Aye it was all a bit bonkers up here

The good news is I am on the same water tomorrow as I was on a couple of years ago when I landed the first fish of the season - beat 6 - same date too 17th Jan.
The bad news - that was after a mild winter

[ballingall512]

Jan 17, 2010 21:11:51 GMT helmie said:

Aye it was all a bit bonkers up here

The good news is I am on the same water tomorrow as I was on a couple of years ago when I landed the first fish of the season - beat 6 - same date too 17th Jan.
The bad news - that was after a mild winter

Never happy Ron ;D

I look forward to seeing a picture of a big fat springer tomorrow night