Skip to content

Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing

The time has finally arrived. The fishing season is officially getting underway in Connecticut and has picked up its tempo in Massachusetts.

For the seventh year, Harry Desmond of Great Barrington will guide novices and experienced angler into the water to cast their lines, and their luck, upon the waters.

Desmond is owner and head guide of Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing in Great Barrington. He grew up fishing and exploring in the Berkshires and has extensive knowledge of Berkshire river geography as well as Berkshire history.

A Sweetwater Fly Fishing Guide School graduate, he is proficient in many techniques, including nymph fishing, dry fly fishing and streamer fishing. He will select the right style for any given day’s conditions to maximize the catch.

“Seventy-five percent of the people I take out are beginners, so I teach them how to fly fish from the ground up—how to read the water, techniques of casting, what kinds of food the fish will take,” he said.

Desmond says he will book day trips or customize excursions for those with specific needs.

His more than a decade in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon have led to an in-depth knowledge of those places as well and he will even guide anglers to places such as Yellowstone National Park.

Booking a day trip with Berkshire Fly Fishing gives beginners a chance to dip their toes in fly fishing waters without purchasing a lot of equipment. Desmond provides rods, reels, lines, tippets—everything needed to try the sport. He even keeps hunger at bay with snacks and beverages (no, you can’t eat the fish you catch; they are strictly catch and release). No alcoholic beverages are allowed while wading.

He is CPR and first aid certified.

Trips take four to five hours and are available any time of the year. He can accommodate one or two people on a trip.

For information contact: Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing, c/o Harry Desmond, PO Box 285, Great Barrington, MA 01230; 413-446-5147 or berkshireriversflyfishing@gmail.com.

Back
to
Top