#Booku rods free

“With the exception of a small association stretch, to take fishing on one of its beats you must also rent one of the owners’ shooting lodges in the strath. The fishing on the Helmsdale is controlled by the Helmsdale River Board. He continues: “The reason this historic landmark is lying empty appears fairly simple. Mr Gibb points to the closure of the village’s Bridge Hotel, once a mecca for anglers but put on the market in 2008 at a price of £1.25 million and still unsold.

He writes: “You would have thought that with some of the best salmon runs in decades in this part of the country, local businesses which thrive on visiting anglers would be booming.” Mr Gibb cites Helmsdale as an example of a place where “the economic rewards of what is arguably the best fishing in the world is not filtering through to its local communities.” A Land Reform Bill is also imminent.Īnd pressure is being put on river boards to operate in a more open and transparent manner. Scottish Natural Heritage has just announced an economic assessment of angling and the Scottish Government is carrying out a review of freshwater fisheries. The article comes at a time when angling in Scotland is under greater scrutiny than ever before. Six river owners are involved and the board chairman is Sir John Nutting of Kinbrace. The River Helmsdale, a favourite of Prince Charles, has six exclusive two-rod beats upstream and is managed by the Helmsdale and District Salmon Fishery Board. Mr Gibb’s hard-hitting article has been published in the June edition of the Scottish Field magazine. However, Borrobol Estate owner Michael Wigan, manager of Helmsdale and District Salmon Fishery Board, says Mr Gibb is “mistaken and ill-informed” and is now seeking a meeting with him. Instead they can only book rods if they stay at shooting lodges owned by river owners.

#Booku rods free

Jon Gibb, from Fort William, maintains the village and surrounding area should be thriving because it boasts one of the best salmon rivers in the country.īut he claims Helmsdale’s main hotel has been forced to close, with a knock-on effect on other businesses, because anglers are not free to find their own accommodation. Fly-tyer Ronald Sutherland: ‘Helmsdale river is far from maximised’.Ī HIGHLAND angling writer has blamed Helmsdale’s economic downslide on river owners who restrict anglers to staying at their shooting lodges.