Sutherland Special

15/12/2025

Hi everyone. Dave here sitting in not so sunny South Africa after a move from the North East of Scotland. Thanks for all the new views in a page dedicated to the legacy of the Sutherland Special and its inventors, the Sutherland brothers from Aberdeen, Scotland.

To those who have used these lures for years, you know how successful they are based on their unique action and how they can hover over the river bottom just where the fish are lying. I've been lucky to catch quite a few salmon in the company of my father and Ronnie Sutherland

I'm sure many of you may have a few original Sutherland specials sitting in tackle boxes that have caught a fair few fish when we had much larger runs of salmon or sea trout or some trophy trout from rivers in Scotland and further afield. I also suspect you are loathe to use them at the risk of snagging them and losing an original lure.

Don't despair - head out to The Massin Assassin page to get the latest "Specials" on the market and get your partners to buy you a few for the 2026 season. Plentry of different colours to try out, as well as the original 10g weight and a heavier version too

I'm going to be trying their new lures out in the rivers and beaches of the Western Cape in the New Year.

Have a great Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

19/10/2025

Thanks eveyone for all the new views. I set this page up to promote the Sutherland Special as the great lure it is, and acknowledgong Ronnie Sutherland and his brother who invented the lure almost 70 years ago and evolved it to being so popular a salmon and sea trout lure in its heyday. Additionally I had the pleasure of fishing a few times with Ronnie on the lower Don when he and my father , who both worked for Grandhome Wollen Mills, would catch salmon very regularly on Specials - an almost embarrisingly easy task for them. I remember losing 2 fish within 5 minutes one cold February. at Snuffies Also one time Ronnie and I were fishing the tail of a pool below Mugiemoss and my father walked in between the two of us and first cast had a nice 10lb fish. Glory days

Appreciating we now have a new source of Specials, the The Massin Assassin, please support them and enjoy the capabilities of this amazing lure.

I'm off to try my luck with a few of them in South Africa. Not sure which Southern Hemisphere species I'll try first but I'll keep you updated..

Tight lines everyone

Dave..

31/07/2025

Hi Everyone ! I'd just like to thank all the new followers of this page over the past few months. Obviously onging production of the Sutherland Specials, aka The Massin Assassin , is now in the hands of local Aberdeenshire lads the Masson brothers

Go check their page if you haven't alread done so, and get a few lures for Summer / Autumn Salmon and Seatrout or even sea bass

Tight Lines Everyone

18/01/2025

Just got a package of lures, including the 15g in Gold, and caps from The Massin Assassin for the 2025 season.

I expect the 15g weight should be great to use in heavier river currents and help to get down to where the fish are lying. I know a few pools on the Don where this will be my go-to lure in the spring.

The lures now also come with split rings and a bead which is a great wee addition. My preference is to use split rings so that the hook swivels around which in my mind helps to increase strike rates.

The brushed cotton baseball-style cap selection has already been snatched up by my wife and son.

Great to see the lures evolving with the heavier weight as well as the wee extras mentioned above.

Reach out to the The Massin Assassin page and gear up for the season.

Tight lines for 2025 and send in any photos of spring catches too.

01/01/2025

Happy 2025 to all our fishers interested in Sutherland Specials - long may the lure and its new creations continue to catch great fish in Scottish rivers and further afield. Send in your photos.

22/12/2024

Hi Everyone. Just wishing everyone who likes the page a Merry Christmas and hope that your stocking fillers include more lures from the The Massin Assassin. Get across to their page to see their latest offerings including a heavier weight lure option as well as the all gold option that I'll be using for my spring fishing in 2025.

26/10/2024

The Massin Assassin is busy getting new colours out with the autumn gold being our own 'go to lure' for spring salmon.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1063724818270586

There's also rumour of a 15g version - same size as the original just heavier.

29/09/2024

BREAKING NEWS - THEY ARE BACK !!
The original Sutherland Special lures are back in production and are available from The Massin Assassin page – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565219824935

Following the original launch back in 1950’s by the Sutherland brothers, Ronnie and George, the lure is now being accurately re-produced by another pair of brothers, the Masson’s.

The new lures fully reflect the original Sutherland Special in terms of their unique design, weight and their distinctive movement. We’ve tested them and fully expect to get more fish with them.

They are available in a range of colours.

Check them out and give them your support before the end of the season!

Tell your fishing buddies they are available again as well as get your partners to order them for your Christmas stocking fillers

History: The Sutherland brothers, Ronnie and George, created the unique Sutherland Special back in 1955 in Aberdeen. This was followed by the lure’s evolution over 20 odd years to the lures we then used for regularly catching salmon, sea trout and trout in the rivers and estuaries of the north-east of Scotland and further afield.

They rightfully gained their reputation for catching many more fish.

I also fished with my father and Ronnie on the Don many times and witnessed them taking quite a few salmon in a single outing.

Production was small scale and ceased in the late 80’s.

For the Sutherland Special page’s perspective, we too were aiming to reproduce the lures ourselves but we either had the time but no money or the money but no time to get the lure moulds produced and into manufacture.

The Masson’s beat us to production but, more importantly, the legacy of the Sutherland Special now continues nevertheless with a name change.

Share your photos of your catches here.

The new Massin Assassin now available to purchase, Inspired by the Sutherland Special. Email to order

08/08/2024

Hi everyone. We are hoping to provide an firm update in the next few weeks on providing new Sutherland Specials to everyone. Sorry for the long wait. Our regular jobs were getting in the way of progressing this. Further update at the end of the month.

24/08/2023

Hi everyone ! Is anyone interested in world class sea trout fishing in Argentina in January? I have a rod at the La Villa Maria Behety - 13th to 20th January 2024 , with deposit paid, that I cant now use. Sucks to be me !

DM me for further details if interested.

23/01/2023

Hi everyone. Happy 2023. Sadly 2022 came and went without any lure production owing to an outstanding intellectual property issue where a 3rd party tried to licence the design with a view to taking a percentage from us without assuming any financial risk in getting the lures manufactured. As such, the UK Intellectual Property Office, IPO, came out in our favour and confirmed this by letter in December 2022.

With that behind us, we are now back talking to suppliers to get updated costs and timelines with a view to get Sutherland Specials ™ available again for summer grilse, sea trout and trout.

In the meantime, have a great start to the 2023 season and we'll keep you updated more regularly.

04/05/2022

NEWS UPDATE
Hi Sutherland Special-ists.

Owing to conditions outside of our control we need to ask for a bit more patience from everyone wanting to place orders for Sutherland Specials

The well-advanced plans for the manufacture and sale of the Sutherland Special have hit a UK intellectual property issue owing to someone opportunistically licensing the original design earlier this year with the intention of expecting us to pay them a licence fee for each lure.

As you can all appreciate, we fully dispute this attempt to license the design since the design has been in the public domain since the 1960’s. We have requested the Intellectual Property Office to invalidate this 2022 design registration and permanently remove this issue so that we can then make and supply these lures without hindrance.

In the meantime, enjoy your fishing, tight lines, and please post any photos of fish you catch on this page for everyone to enjoy.

FYI We’ve noted some large trout being taken from the Aberdeenshire Don in the past week or so. Any good salmon or sea trout photos out there?