Hoosic River Reports - 2005

[JoeOverlock]

March 22, 2005

With the weather hovering around 40 degrees for the past few days we decided to try the basin across from Treet Cleaners. The river was running at 214 cfs and a surprising 44 degrees! The conditions were perfect, but we didn't catch a thing.

[maryanne]

Sorry Joe, we missed you over at Treet, but we did try behind the dump....caught nothing, and locked our keys in the car....but I'm sure everyone who saw us walking in our waders (ouch) up Rt 7 is now thinking about doing some fishing too!

[JoeOverlock]

That stinks about your keys. You didn't miss any great fishing though. Was there any kind of hatch going on behind the dump? We had a small Trico hatch going on, didn't see any rises though.

[ClarkCollins]

On Wednesday around 5pm I fished the Hoosic & the Green River. I fished a little on the Hoosic and then up the Green towards Route 2. I didn't have any luck - which was probably due more to skill or lack thereof - but I'd love to find out what types of fly's people are using on the Hoosic or the Green Rivers.

Also - is anyone out there interested in picking a week day afternoon / early evening for a local fly fishing outing. It could be any day of the week and whatever time in the late afternoon that people have had success... I'd just like to explore some of the local fishing spots around Williamstown & North Adams. Email me if you're interested. This might also be something to discuss at the next meeting...

Thanks!

Clark

[JoeOverlock]

I think it would be a great idea for us to have mini-outings all around the Berkshires. It should be fun.

On the Hoosic we get big mayfly hatches and HUGH caddis hatches. A few times last year the caddis hatch was so thick it was like it was raining caddis. They would be down your shirt, in your vest pockets, and up your nose. I was casting to a trout about 30 feet away and then I noticed I had 2 small browns rising right behind my leg, feeding off the caddis that were falling off my legs.

As for the Green River in Williamstown I've only caught stockers there with some holdovers. I'd like to spend more time fishing the Green this year though, upstream from Green River Farms.

[JoeOverlock]

April 19, 2005

With the last few days being above 70 degrees the Hoosic is now flowing at 55 degrees. All of the Nymphs are starting to get VERY active. You don't even need to turn over rocks to see the Stonefly, Mayfly, and Caddis nymphs running around. The Mayfly hatch is slowly getting thicker by the day, not enough yet to cause trout to start rising though.

Pretty much any day now...

On another note, I saw a spincaster fishing with 2 kids from the top of the Treet Cleaner basin last night. This wormdunker caught a nice rainbow (kind of rare for that basin) and then walked it back up the wall to release the fish from 30 feet in the air, landing on it's side. Now I don't know if that rainbow lived of not. But when we take kids fishing we should all go the extra mile to show them the correct way to handle a fish.

[JoeOverlock]

April 22, 2005

Current flow: 280cfs @ USGS monitor
Water Temp: 55f

The trout are down deep and taking emergers near the top. This is a very fustrating time to fish with the trout jumping all around you and being so selective, but can be well worth the fustration.

Along with the emergers there was a good size BWO hatch with some trout taking the size 28 and smaller drys.

This is the time of year when the trout make us work for that bite and we have to be very technical to have a productive day.

[Mark Patenaude]

Joe, per your recent report on the Hoosic. About another 5+ degree water temp increase will get things going.

I'm curious, was the BWO hatch on an overcast day, which is typical?

f-w-f

[JoeOverlock]

Yup. It rained all weekend. And now the rivers are a little too high to fish. Should be fine by the end of the week though.

[Joshua Field]

Went to one of my favorite spots on the north branch of the Hoosic but it was swarming with worm danglers and spoon chuckers so I ventured to another spot that I like but is harder to get to. After making my way through the brush I found there was a BWO hatch happening near a little culvert that was dumping water into the Hoosic but not close enough that it was getting any action. Water was HIGH and I only had my hippers with me so I didn't cover much of the river... was out for maybe an hour.

I tried bwo's and mosquitos with no luck. Sun went over the bank so I tried a streamer. Put a black ghost and sink tip on and tried some of the deeper pools with no luck again. Hopefully things will dry out a bit this week...

On the way back I saw worm danglers putting their free trout dinner (courtesy of your fishing license) in plastic grocery bags at the dam on the corner of rt8 and cross road: maps.google.com/maps?ll=42.714339,-73.082954&spn=0.006555,0.007371&t=k&hl=en

Depressing to see those fish pulled out of the system as the north branch doesn't have many hold-overs. Hopefully some of the newbies ventured north...

[JoeOverlock]

May 7, 2005
Water Temp: 49f
Water Speed: 269cfs @usgs Stream Gauge
Air Temp: 55f high
Overcast Skys

This season is getting so rough for me I decided to call in a profesional. Rex (yes, THE legendary Rex from Allure Outfitters) and we fished the basin across from Treet Cleaners in North Adams tonight. We had a small Mayfly hatch start at about an hour before sunset and then end about 1 minute later, even the birds were left wondering what the heck happened.

We spent the night throwing nymphs and streamers and caught nothing. No trout were rising for dries or emergers. Rex had one hit on his streamer and I had one hit on my caddis nymph. As the sun was setting a pretty dence BWO hatch started, still no rises.

We got skunked, but still had a good time. Personally I think the trout got word that Rex was coming and made a run for it. Can you blame them?

[Flyguy004]

I was fishing the Hoosic just below the Cheshire Harbor yesterday afternoon. Had a couple of hits and flipped a couple but couldnt land any. Probably due to inexperience since it was the first time i've ever been out. It was an enjoyable day.

[JoeOverlock]

Never blame it on inexperience, blame it on the equipment!

You were using a very light leader for a technical presintation and were unable to land the trout because of it's size. ;D

[Flyguy004]

Thanks Joe. I'll have to remember that.

[JoeOverlock]

May 28, 2005
Water temp: 60 degrees
Air Temp: 75 degrees
Water Speed: 249 cfs

Josh and I fished my "secret hole" today. Yeah, it's a secret hole now because no one else will share with me thier secret spots and backwood beaver dams, so I'm going to call it "my secret hole". ;D

I landed one nice 14 inch brown on a muddler minow, Josh said it was more like 12 inches though, but I caught and he didn't so we'll say it was 16 inches.

He had a few browns teasing his banty bamboo rod but none that would take the whole fly. All in all it was a nice afternoon on the water and I finally got to land a trout this year. The water finally warmed up enough for the trout to start feeding. Unless we get a major cold front, the fishing is going to be exellent from here on in on the Hoosic.

[JoeOverlock]

May 29, 2005
Water Temp: 58 degrees
Water Speed: 224 cfs

I went out to secret fishing spot #1 tonight, Josh joined me about an hour later. We had one of the thickest hatches this season tonight, everything was hatching. BWO's, sulpher duns, caddis, and stoneflys. But, not a lot of trout were rising. But, that's when something amazing happened. Every trout in the hole all rose at the same time, but just once. It was one of the wierdest things that I have ever seen. I never knew trout practiced synchronized swiming. A nice 17 inch brown took my dry and gave me a good fight. It was a good night on the water and it looks like this years trout season is starting on the Hoosic.

[Joshua Field]

June 2, 2005
Water temp 61 degrees
Air temp 75 degrees

Joe and I hit his secret spot #? last night in Adams. Some mystery bugs were skittering around on the surface when we got there and so Joe was throwing a Caddis to imitate and I was throwing a tiny olive dun. Both flies got action but no actual takes. Around 8:30 we noticed black caddis flies running through the water and then being taken.

Within about 10 minutes the river was swarming with Caddis. Floating the fly didn't work, but as soon as you'd give the fly a bit of drag - wham - they'd go for it. We both fished elk hair caddis for the remainder of the night and got TONS of hits but not a single take.

Was completely strange... after gobs of strikes in a half an hour we called it quits.

When I got home I tied up a cross between black tent wing caddis and an elk hair (peacock herl body with rooster hackle at the neck, a bit of deer hair under crow feather wings). I'll try it out this weekend at the same spot!

[JoeOverlock]

June 5, 2005
Water Temp: 64 degrees
Water Speed: 150 cfs @ USGS Gauge

Another big hatch at secret spot #132 tonight. Josh and I got there just before the hatch started. I started throwing a mayfly nymph on a dropper rig and Josh went right for the caddis dry. I landed 2 brookies over the course of the night, each one about 6-7 inches. One on the mayfly nymph and another on an Elk Har Caddis.

[AgMD]

6/19/05 Well -- my beloved Battenkill was a good foot or more above the maximum comfortable height (IMHO) so I checked out the Hoosic in N. Pownal. 68* F at sunset but a nice comfortable flow. Sporadic but splashy rises but the only insects to be seen were little tiny midge like things buzzing franticly just above the surface. Couldn't do anything w/ nymphs, but size 20 dries turned out to be the ticket. BUT they wouldn't touch a good drag free drift, I needed to give the fly a bit of a twitch-- "The Sudden Inch" as described by Leonard Wright - Tho I believe he was really talking about caddis. It did work tho -- caught 4, one pulled out , and I missed more than we need to talk about.
AgMD

[JoeOverlock]

11/13/05

I fished without my vest tonight, so no cool river numbers, sorry.

I fished my secret spot (the Treet Cleaners basin) for an hour tonight. The browns are all moving up into the basin for the winter and it was easy pickin's. 5 hookups all within an hour, missed 2. Streamer patterns work good and so do nymphs.

[ctroy36]

Fished the Hoosic along Rt 8 in Cheshire/Adams this afternoon for a couple of hours. River was a little high, cold (41 degrees) and flowing good (300 cfm per USGS). Caught and released a few small brookies on bead-head, flashback Hares Ear nymphs. Tossed steamers and Wooly Buggers to see if I could scare up something bigger, but no luck there. Saw a couple of what looked redds where spawning took place. Good signs for the future.

[ctroy36]

Curiosity got the better of me. I've been reading of Joe's adventures at a place called the Basin at Treet Cleaners. I've wondered if that was real or some sort of fish joke. After all a basin is something you use in cleaning (wash basin) and the cleaner's basin" sounded a little fishy.

So, when I got back from crow hunting earlier than expected this morning, I decided to burn up some gasoline and drive up north and look for this place.

Found the Cleaners and parked across the street. Almost turned back when faced with the job of getting down the bank -- and back up later.

Since this was new water to me, I stumbled around for a while and finally decided it was easier to work downstream. Was worth the effort as I took two small fish on nymphs, missed a few also. Decided to try something different and switched to a gaudy streamer that usually attracts smallies. On third cast a good brown nailed it. Nice fish about 12-14 inches.

Finally gave up as wind made casting difficult and my hands were getting numb, Water temp was 44 degrees.

Thanks for the tip, Joe. I'll maybe try it again next year when it's warmer.