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Deerfield River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Deerfield River: a Berkshire trout river below Fife Brook Dam with a wild brown trout majority and two catch-and-release areas.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
215 cfs
Air / High
50 / 55 F
Wind
NNE 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01168500, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Deerfield River fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. The river is running 215 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 55. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:54 PM-11:54 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 58 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Water and weather

Live readings from Deerfield River at Charlemont.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01168500.

297490682215 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 113 years of October 23

At 215 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01168500 (Deerfield River at Charlemont) is at the 12th percentile for the date: below normal. In half of the 113 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 501 cfs; the highest was 3,660 cfs and the lowest 79 cfs.

p10 199median 501p90 1,216

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01168500; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp50 F
High / Low55 / 36 F
WindNNE 7-17 mph
Pressure1026.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:14 / 17:56
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Deerfield River this week

The best day on Deerfield River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:54 PM-11:54 PM
Minor period
3:46 AM-4:46 AM
Sun
07:14 to 17:56
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Deerfield River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Deerfield River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Deerfield River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 10 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 59 F, wind to 8 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 11 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Massachusetts requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Massachusetts fishing license, required at age 15 and older. Statewide trout limit (MassWildlife, updated Sept. 25, 2026): 6 a day, no more than 3 of them brook, brown or tiger trout. Catch-and-release areas: artificial lures only, no bait in possession, no fish kept.

Access

Catch-and-release upper section: Fife Brook Dam to the Hoosac Tunnel. Lower section: Pelham Brook to the Mohawk Campground. MassWildlife posts a map of each section.

About this water

A Connecticut River tributary flowing through Franklin County, Massachusetts; USGS gauge 01168500 at Charlemont.

Fishing Deerfield River: the full guide

Wild browns below Fife Brook

A four-year MassWildlife mark-recapture study, reported in 2023, found that more than 80 percent of brown trout between Fife Brook Dam and the Route 2 bridge in Charlemont are wild, born in the river or nearby tributaries. MassWildlife therefore stopped stocking brown trout in that upper section, kept stocking rainbow trout there, and moved the hatchery browns farther downstream, clipping their adipose fins to track them.

Two catch-and-release areas

Massachusetts lists two catch-and-release areas on the Deerfield: the upper section from Fife Brook Dam to the Hoosac Tunnel, and the lower section from Pelham Brook to the Mohawk Campground. Only artificial lures may be used there and no bait of any type may be possessed.

Reading the gauge

The USGS gauge at Charlemont (01168500) reports live flow and stage for this stretch of the river; check it before wading.

Common questions

Are the Deerfield's brown trout wild?

Mostly, in the upper river: MassWildlife found that over 80 percent of browns from Fife Brook Dam to the Route 2 bridge were born in the wild.

Can I use bait in the catch-and-release areas?

Bait is not allowed: only artificial lures may be used, and no bait of any type may be possessed.

How many trout can I keep outside those areas?

Under the statewide rule in effect this fall, 6 a day, of which no more than 3 may be brook, brown or tiger trout.

Is fishing good at Deerfield River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Somerset Reservoir24 miOnota Lake24 miBattenkill34 miQuabbin Reservoir34 miSwift River37 miWestfield River37 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01168500 β€” Deerfield River at Charlemont
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 14:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 42.6300, -72.8700 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.