------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article 1 of 21 Subject: Deerfield River, MA, ?s being taken From: kevdm@aol.com (KevDM) Date: 1995/04/13 Message-Id: <3mjdem$5au@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] The Deerfield River in Western Massachusetts is arguably one of the finest trout streams in the Northeast. If you're heading out this way and would like some specific advice about where to go and what to use when fly fishing on the Deerfield, e-mail me. I've been guiding and teaching exclusively on the Deerfield River for some years now (longer than we'd like to remember) and would be happy to answer any and all questions pertaining to my favorite river. So, please, don't hesitate to reach me. Information is free to NICE PEOPLE only. : ) Or you can actually put some snail mail together and get in touch with me through: Points North Fly Fishing Outfitters Attn: Kevin Moran P.O. Box 146 Adams, MA 01220 The fishing has been great so far! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Cold River, Florida Mass From: salmo@titan.oit.umass.edu (James J Montgomery) Date: 1995/05/02 Message-Id: <3o5868$ne@nic.umass.edu> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] ASTC (astc@aol.com) wrote: : I'll be turkey hunting in the florida area next week and was wondering if : anyone has any experiance fishing the cold upstream of rte 2. Ive never : fished it but seen it deep in the woods and it looks tasty but I never : threw a fly there. : Any info would be great!! : P.S. I dont mind walking The Deerfield River guidebook describes it as a highly variable flowing stream with a small population of wild brookies. I know the state stocks it, but I'm not sure with what, and there's always the chance that big fish from that nice pool on the deerfield that the cold empties into could have come upstream. I don't know if the state stocks this river anywhere upstream of the last route 2 bridge. They may, but I'm sure most of the fishing pressure is on the lower stretches. -jamie (salmo@student.umass.edu) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Advice: Deerfield River (MA) flyfishing From: salmo@titan.oit.umass.edu (James J Montgomery) Date: 1995/05/07 Message-Id: <3ohasv$g1p@nic.umass.edu> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] Jim Bond (jlb2@ix.netcom.com) wrote: : My buddies and I are planning a day-trip to fish the Deerfield River in : No. Central Mass. Plan "A" is to bring to canoes with electric motors : and do a flyfishing float trip. Plan "B" is, if there are some truly : outstanding spots that aren't good for canoeing (shallower, : fast-running and rocky), we might leave the canoes home and simply do : some serious wading and flycasting. Any suggestions from those who : know about this area would be greatly appreciated. : Jim : The only time the river is really good to flyfish is when the water is low, which is the worst time to canoe. Canoe during high water and fish during low water. call 1 (413) 625-8414 for the water releases from Fife Brook dam. The catch and release areas along Zoar Rd. off of route 2 by the Mohawk bridge are good places to check out. Hike down the railroad tracks south of where bardwell's ferry bridge used to be in Conway (ask around for directions) if you want some privacy and a chance at some big holdover fish. -jamie (salmo@student.umass.edu) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Deerfield river trout...where? From: prgrant@news.amherst.edu (Phillip R. Grant) Date: 1995/10/06 Message-Id: <4544dr$oj3@amhux3.amherst.edu> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] Spent some great days fly fishing the Deerfield River this summer. The Bardswell Ferry area. Smallmouth everywhere...great fun. Actually, I was hoping for trout. The water was warm and quite low... which could have been the problem. What flies were used? Almost everything! Many different nymphs, wooly worms, wooly buggers, cahils, caddis, may and stone. Even lengthen the leader to 12 ft. Why just the Ferry area (and above)? Few stockies and few fisherman... lots of walking. Stillwater bridge area has stockies and fisherman and teenage swimming. Solitude is good...trout or no trout. Looking foward to ice-in...bye ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Deerfield River, MA From: Thomas Urbig Date: 1995/10/12 Message-Id: <45jkkn$e8d@decaxp.harvard.edu> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] yutaka tamura wrote: >Thomas, > A first time net surfer, I noticed that you are a fellow Bostonian >with an interest in fly-fishing. I typically go to Vermont to fly-fish >(White River, Waits River, etc.). However, it seems from your e-mail >that there is good fishing in Mass, specifically the Deerfield River. >Could you possibly suggest a specific location on the river that may be a >good place to try, some fly patterns and any other relevant other info on >the deerfield or any other river within a proximity of Boston? > Look forward to hearing from you > Yes, you're right, there is great fishing in Mass, too. The Deerfield has two catch and release areas which have optimal water temps= even during this hot summer (the water comes from the bottom release of a dam, so the water didn't have more than about 68F this su= mmer). Thw two C/R areas are located above route 2 (MA). If you're coming from North Adams (MA) on Route 2 you will pass the Mohawk = Trail campground. Only a few hundred yards after the entrance to the campground the goes an intersection to the left with a sign for= the Yankee atomic power plant. Go this street, follow it about a mile. At the next crossing go to the left and then underneath the = tunnel. Then you are back at the Deerfield river. On the left hand side the C&R area II is located. There are many places where you = can park your car. If you drive further along the road next to the stream you will cross the deerfield river and a few miles later you will cross track= s. This is the begin of C&R-area II. Read the sign after the tracks on your right! The first good spot is right here. If you climb d= own to the Deerfield you have a nice run upstream and a larger pool a few ft downstream. You are often alone at this spot although t= he fishing here is very good. If you go further along the street a few miles the street comes down to the river. The river makes here a left turn (you cant see it= from the street, because a small forest is in between). Underneath the riffle (called Rainbow run) there is a big pool. You can fin= d almost always fisherman there, because the fishing here is pretty good. Most poeple fish only directly under the run, but it's wor= th to go downstream. It's usually less crowded there and the pool, which is very long, holds large sized trout. If you go further on the street (about 3/4 of a mile) there is a dirt road to the right. Go there carefully (street is in pretty bad= shape). You will find there a nice run to fish (you can really see the trout and choose a specific one to fish; come early on weeke= nds, many fisherman like to fish this run) and a good pool underneath (which I like to fish by far the most, because less people are= fishing here and I saw almost always when I went to this spot this year rises in this pool). If you have further yestions, send me an email. You will also find a good description of those areas in the book about Mass Troutfis= hing from Trout Unlimited with a detailed map and hints for fishing. Have fun, Thomas ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: pointsnrth@aol.com (PointsNrth) Date: 1995/12/21 Message-Id: <4bcqin$oij@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] This regards earlier posts on fishing the Deerfield in the winter, but may be interesting new reading for all... Primarily, NEPCO flows pretty high during the winter months on the C&R stretches of the Deerfield River. By high, I mean 900 cfs minimum (fishable water level is 75 or 125 cfs). Occassionally, at other times of the year, they will flow at 500 cfs, which still tends to be pretty high water -- at least, it's water that I and others do not feel comfortable fishing -- but will. I don't take anybody out if the water is not 75 or 125 cfs. I was able to get out onto the Deerfield River this year on Jan. 8, when for some strange reason, they were flowing low water. That clearly will not be the case this year, as I expect NEPCO will be releasing for quite a while due to tremendous amounts of runoff I expect. In other Deerfield River news, the relicensing agreement for the NEPCO dams on the Deerfield is currently on hold as federal regulators are taking long looks at the plan. The Deerfield River dams will likely set precedent for other relicensing agreements on dams elsewhere throughout the country. While the whitewater rafters are guaranteed about 102 (if memory serves me correct) family-level rafting flows annually, they are also guaranteed about 54 expert-level rafting flows, too. However, some stretches above the Fife Brook Dam that previously lack water entirely most of the time will be guaranteed minimum flows in the new agreement. I am confident that some of these previously unfishable stretches of the river when stocked will be remarkable fishing (the stream bed and banks and the characteristics of the river bottoms look like they'll provide some simply delicious sections of fishing). Otherwise, it's been darn cold around here in Western Massachusetts -- with the exception of the FF section on the Swift -- most rivers around already have layers of ice and snow. I did, in November, catch two landlocks in the Swift above Quabbin. Folks are free to e-mail me with questions about the Deerfield, which I fish or guide on near daily in the spring, summer or fall. I'm usually pretty good about checking my e-mail at least once every several days or so and can usually respond with relative expediency. Good luck, friends, Kevin Moran Points North Fly Fishing Outfitters An Orvis Shop Adams, MA Points North Fly Fishing Outfitters Adams, Mass. "So much water, so close to home." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Deerfield running very high From: pkenyon@darmok.harvard.edu (Peter Kenyon TRW) Date: 1996/05/14 Message-Id: Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] Hi, I was at the Deerfield sat, May 11, and actually camped at the Mohawk Trail campground. The owner said "you might not want to take a site right on the river, because less than a week ago they were underwater!" So we took a site on a little knoll, about 6 feet higher up. Lucky for us because during the nite it rained heavily and I believe there was a major release at the dam as well because the river rose at least 2 feet, completely covering the camp sites along the river and the dirt road leading to them. The fishing was poor as the Deerfield was super fast, and wading was difficult. We were able to wade across the Cold River (about 1/2 mile upstream from the Mohawk campground) and fish the water where the Cold River met the Deerfield ... a few strikes but no fish. Not alot of other fisherman on the river ... guess they knew the situation and are going to wait for the water to go down a bit. --pete ps. The Steel Rail Pale Ale at the bar was excellent and also flowing at quite a rate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Deerfield river info From: maf6@cornell.edu (Max Attar Feingold) Date: 1996/06/25 Message-Id: Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] In article <31CEF773.ABD@nai.net>, joseph zigmont wrote: > Need info on Deefield river in Mass, Would appreciate assistance. > Thanks, > jz I think the river is a little overrated; it doesn't really deserve the legendary status some folks have given it. But, nonetheless, it's a beautiful river and worth a visit if you're in the area. I've found that the upper portion of the river between the Fife Brook Dam and the B and M Railroad bridge is the best place to catch some nice fish while enjoying the great surroundings. About halfway between the RR bridge and a small parking area for catch and release fisherfolk, there is a bend in the river (and the road which parallels the river from the railroad bridge up past the dam into Vermont) which holds some nice trout. The river is stocked with brook, brown, and rainbow trout. I've had most of my luck with subsurface caddis patterns, though folks have success with basic drys as well. I don't fish very well with a streamer, but I've been advised to try a Muddler Minnow on the Deerfield. Brian ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: Re: How was the Deerfield trip? From: wserda@ix.netcom.com(William Serda) Date: 1996/10/30 Message-Id: <557c46$sf6@dfw-ixnews10.ix.netcom.com> Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing.fly [More Headers] Five of us met at the Deerfield River Sat morning. That afternoon the river was pretty high, and flowing strong, but later in the day it slowed to a nice rate, and almost everyone caught a fish or two (sorry Joe!). The Inn was pretty cool...nice bar, good food, and VERY reasonable. Sat nite there was a Halloween party, and one of us stayed out probably a bit too late. Sunday AM the river was flowing a little strong, but was suppose to have slowed by the early PM. Unfortunately, the water authority changed their minds, and kept the river running pretty fast. The weather was great, and the company was the best. We had all ages, men and women, and all levels of expertise. I even discovered that people in Mass fish (flyfish too) all winter long in a couple of spots, and I hope to try that. I certainly would like to do the trip again, this Spring, and will be doing something (either day or weekend) this winter. Let me know if you are interested. I have saved the e-mail addresses of those that corresponded with me about this trip. Let me know if you would like for me to remove your name, or add it if you are just finding out about this group. Mac ------------------------------------------------------------------------