Fishing Season: Spring

Deerfield River - MA

Fishing Outlook & Conditions

Water Temp:

37

Jay Aylward's Tip of the Week

The deerfield, like many of our local rivers could use some rain to freshen the system and make the fish happier. The wade fishing has been decent, pick your timing early is good, especially before the sun hits the water. Present smaller sub-surface offerings and if we get some cloud cover or low flow at dusk, match the hatch of caddis, light cahills, and some sulphers. www.handmadeangler.com

Directions open in app

Map of Deerfield River

Water Flow Data

Tidal Conditions

5-Day Outlook as of 6/12/26

check the flows. So you dont get stuck.

Techniques & Tips as of 6/12/26

Nymphing and dry fly fishing

Local Species Available Spring

  • Fish Icon

    Trout

Jay Aylward's Recommended Fly Patterns

"Must-have" fly fishing patterns in descending order of importance:

Name: Colors: Size(s):
Bead Head American Pheasant Tail Gray 12
Real McCoy AP Spinner rust 12
Adams brown 14
Vernille San Juan Worm pink 18-22
Dark Olive Sculpins Dark Olive 2 to 6
Blood dot eggs Red or Brown 4 to 6
Czech Mate Nymph Black/olive 18-22
Bead Head Woolly Bugger Streamer Black 6-12
Pheasant tail Pt 14-20
Parachute adams Copper Yellow 14 to 20

Bead Head American Pheasant Tail

Fish these small versions of stonefly nymphs in rivers and streams.

2.49

Item #942B

Buy Now

Jay Aylward's Recommended Gear

Description: About Deerfield River

DeerfieldRiver, Western Massachusetts The DeerfieldRiver is a tail water that originates in Vermont and flows into Massachusetts in Monroe. The river is fairly large averaging around 125 to 1000 cubic feet per second depending on Dam releases. There are times when wading is easier at lower flows, generally in the evening in morning. Floating in a raft or pontoon boat is a great way to experience all sections of this river during appropriate flows. This is truly a twelve month river and fishes well all year. Most productive months are April through December. January, February, and March will produce lower numbers of fish but these are the months when larger wild browns are an everyday occurrence. The state of Massachusetts stocks the river from April through October which increases fish populations in summer months. There are both wild brown trout and wild rainbow trout reproducing in the watershed, along with a huge number of holdover stocked fish make for ample opportunity to catch fish. Wild brook trout are few and far between but you will find them in all sections of the river system. The Deerfield can be a challenging river to fish due to flow changes from the more than a dozen dams on the river. If the flow changes are utilized anglers can use them to catch fish effectively all the time. Paying attention to dam forecasts and USGS gauges increase success and accessibility on the whole river system. There are numbers of tributaries that have more consistent and natural flows that also hold populations of trout year round. While the upper reaches of the Deerfield river hold trout species only, the lower river offers opportunities for all three species of trout, smallmouth bass and nice runs of American Shad during the summer months. The lower river also has fluctuating levels due to dam releases. From ShelburneFalls down stream the dam releases seem to be less dramatic and usually come up and down less than the upper river. At any given time throughout the year there are opportunities to catch fish on nymphs, streamers, or dry flies on the Deerfield. Even in the dead of winter there are trout rising in certain places on the river. The tail water dams keep the river cool in the summer and a little warmer in the winter. One quality about this watershed is that it produces quality fish all year round and that is not an easy thing to find in New England. The erratic flows keep crowds away and fish feeding aggressively. It is not uncommon to fish all day without seeing any other anglers. The high flows do complicate wade fishing but if anglers pay attention to flows there are always places for wading and drifting year round. During summer months the Deerfield can experience heavy boater and tube traffic. There are a number of river sections that are very difficult to access by boat and should be sought out by anglers to avoid heavy traffic weekends. The diversity of water types the Deerfield offers is one of the rivers great attributes. A fisherman can fish fast water, slow water, pocket water, dry flies, wet flies all in the same day and have success doing all of them. Flies range from huge sculpins imitations to hatch matching mayfly patterns during sulphur and Hendrickson hatches!

Nearest Airport:

Bradley International and Albany International

Hatches:

Quill Gordons Hendricksons Midges Caddis Light Cahills Sulphers Caddis Tricos Oh yeah and Caddis...

Best Time to Fish:

Midday

Best Stretch:

Pick your poison. river wide the fishing has been decent.

Best Access:

In Deerfield: Rte 91 Bridges to Old Deerfield has great fly fishing water and many good public access areas along the river with easy walking to many productive pools, runs and riffles.... Florida to Shelburne: From Greenfield, just follow the river along Rte 2 to the many public access areas that also lead to productive fly fishing waters. Once into Charlemont, follow the river along River Road to additional access and the two Deerfield River Fly Fishing Catch and Release Sections.