My dance card was full Saturday (a wedding) and Sunday (church, then staffing a Historical Society booth at Ramblefest, followed by a wake), so I made a point of setting aside today for fishing.
It was mostly cloudy and in the low-to-mid 50's, and water levels were relatively normal (maybe just a tad low) for this time of year.
My younger son and I started at Eph Pond (nada) and Spruces Pond (zilch) in Williamstown before turning our sights to the Hoosic River.
I had hoped we'd score a trifecta by catching fish in each of the three branches of the River, but that dream was dashed when we were skunked on the Main Branch (behind Spruces Park in Williamstown and above the Ashton Avenue bridge in North Adams),
We drove to the Natural Marble Bridge State Park on the opposite side of North Adams and fished Hudson Brook (where I caught a 6" brookie) down to the North Hoosic (where my son landed a 7" brown on the lower end of the Beaver Mill parking lot).
Then we drove a little further downstream (still on the North Branch) and fished from the roll dam to down below the Eclipse Mill dam.
I landed three assorted (10", 12" and 16') rainbows while my son reeled in another (16") one by Old Glory Rock, and I beached one (12") more below the Eclipse Mill dam.
On the way back upstream, we fished just below the roll dam - - where my son promptly caught a 10" brown and a 13" rainbow - - and, after a bit more of a delay, I brought in two more (12" and 16") rainbows.
Then, after dropping my son off at home, I proceeded to the South Hoosic in Adams and fished from Mullen Mayflower to Elm Rock.
Along the way, I picked up one 15" rainbow by the Old Stone Mill - - although I was surprised a number of the other honey holes along my usual milk run simply weren't producing any hits at all today.
While we fell short of my preferred trifecta, we did manage to catch fish on two of the three branches of the Hoosic - - and were also able to pull off a hat trick of sorts by catching a brookie as well as browns and rainbows.
