Helmsdale prices

Those who like to mix their fishing with deer stalking might be interested in a package for two rods, inclusive with accommodation and ghillie that has just come up on the Helmsdale for September 14, price £7,100 (contact Ron Sutherland at enquiries@helmsdalecompany.com).

That's a bit out of my price bracket. Also, I'm not sure I want to mix the two. The stalking, however, should not be too demanding. I was driving down the Helmsdale valley at dusk just over a week ago and stopped the car when I noticed about half a dozen red deer stags in the gloom not more than 30 yards away from the road. I wound my window down and whistled and they looked back but didn't run.

I had been doing a bit of touring in the far north after fishing for a week on the Dee. With rods in the car I was wondering about the Helmsdale Association water but thought it was a bit unfair to pile fishing on fishing when my wife was keen to do other things.

Heading northwards we stopped in a lay-by on the A9 just north of Dornoch. There's a hill here called The Mound and I had been told how to get some reasonably priced salmon fishing nearby on the river Fleet. It was tempting to give it a try but one of the locals said the fish had not been taking in the previous week (just like it had been on the Dee) so I decided to give it a miss and we took a trip to spend the day on Orkney instead (where, incidentally, you can get some very good trout and sea trout fishing).

The flow from the Fleet is controlled by sluice gates where salmon and sea trout queue to pass. I was curious to know what restrictions, if any, there would be to fish the tidal bit immediately east of the gates but couldn't find out about this. I'm keen to know about the rights on river estuaries. Does anyone know how they work? The picture here was taken just west of the sluice gates at dusk. There's more information about the sluice gates here and if you read the last sentence you can see why I'm wondering about fishing rights.

We were late back from Orkney and, unwisely, drove west so that I could explore the Halladale and Helmsdale valleys. This would have been fine in daylight but the track was narrow and bleak during the late evening. The one hotel en route, called the Fosinard, said it had no rooms. This seemed odd as there were no cars in the car park and all the room keys were on their hooks. Perhaps it is simply closed for business.

I didn't get chance to call in the Helmsdale tackle shop but this is the place to find out everything you need to know about fishing in that area. A few doors down there is an excellent fish and chip shop called La Mirage. As the picture shows its decor is a little strange but the fish and chips are first rate.