WHERE TO CAST IN THE BERKSHIRES THIS FALL
Thirty years ago, I was living in Alaska, working for the Nature Conservancy. Our big project that year was trying to protect a piece of property at the mouth of Lower Talarik Creek, which empties into the Bristol Bay watershed. Every fall, the endemic rainbow trout would follow the salmon up the creek toward their spawning grounds and take as many fish as they could get away with, as would the brown bears, and the anglers followed the trout— people flew in from all over the world for it. General Norman Schwarzkopf fished that creek while we were working on the deal and caught the biggest trout of his life there. I spent a fair amount of that year hip-deep in waders at the mouth of the creek, casting a fly rod, trying to raise money from anglers while catching fish, though I always let the potential donors catch the best and the most. It’ s an experience I’ ve never forgotten.
My oldest son, Jasper, was born in Alaska that same year, and by the time he was eight he caught the fishing bug too, albeit not my version of it. His uncles were spin-casting, bait and tackle-box guys, and that’ s the direction Jasper went in and has stuck with; he still makes trips out with his uncles and cousins every chance he gets, and he fishes when he comes to visit me here in the Berkshires. I used to tell him, as I told all our kids when they’ d get frustrated after a day with nothing to show for it,“ That’ s why they call it fishing, not catching.” That line came back to me more than once while I was reporting this piece.
Fall is a prime time for fishing in the Berkshires, whether you’ ve been fishing for decades or you’ re just a kid putting a worm on a hook for the first time. The fish know winter is coming, and they start to eat like it. I called around to some people who spend a lot more time on our waters than I do these days: Andrew Madden at MassWildlife, Harry Desmond of Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing, and Brad Havill, who I wrote about a couple issues back for the lures he makes up in Richmond(“ Lost Art Lures,” Spring 2026). Here is the advice they gave me to pass on to you.
FISH ARE BITING IN THE FALL Andrew Madden has worked for MassWildlife’ s Western District office since 2000, so he’ s watched a lot of Berkshire County seasons turn over. What he likes about fishing out here, he tells me, is the range of opportunities. Inside a 20-minute drive, you can go from a tiny wild trout stream to a big river like the Westfield or the Housatonic or set up on a lake.“ There’ s just so much opportunity for anglers to pick and choose and find the right place,” he says.
Come October, the water cools, and fish that have lain relatively dormant or lethargic in the warmth of the summer waters come out from the shady pools.“ We start to see some of the fall spawning trout moving around a little bit more, so they’ re more active,” Madden says. MassWildlife stocks the Deerfield River in the fall( Buckland, Charlemont, Conway, and Deerfield) and the broader Deerfield River watershed( Florida, Monroe, and Colrain). It also stocks the East Branch of the Westfield River in Cummington and Chesterfield in years when water levels are suitable, which gives stream fishing a boost right when it’ s needed. They do not stock the Housatonic or Farmington rivers in the fall, however.
In the ponds, fish that had pulled back into deeper, cooler water over the summer start moving into the shallows again as temperatures drop, which is when bass and panfish action picks back up.“ It’ s a combination of all those things,” says Madden: more fish activity, decent water levels, good conditions for wading or boating. Late September into October, in his words,“ makes for a really nice fishing season.”
Harry Desmond, who’ s been guiding fly fishing trips out of the Berkshires for 16 years as the founder of Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing, sees the same shift from the riverside, species by species. Smallmouth bass, which is the fish
Left, Scott Megan, an expert fishing guide with Berkshire Fly Fishing, with an impressive catch. Above, a gorgeous view of Onota Lake in Pittsfield, a popular fishing location.( Courtesy of Scott Megan; iStock)
Fall 2026 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 77