Meet Our Guides
Harry Desmond, Owner & Head Guide
Harry Desmond, owner, head guide, and founder of Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing™, grew up fishing and exploring in the Berkshires. Harry has extensive knowledge of Berkshire river geography as well as Berkshire history.
Experience & Education
Harry’s love of fly fishing and outdoor adventures led his travels to Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon, where he worked, played, and explored for more than a decade. In all, Harry has 20+ years of fly fishing experience, including 8 years in Yellowstone National Park (and Slough Creek).
Harry is a Sweetwater Fly Fishing Guide School graduate. He is also CPR and first aid certified. He is proficient in many techniques, including nymph fishing, dry fly fishing, and streamer fishing, and he will select the right style for any given day’s conditions to maximize your catch.
Passions & Values
Harry enjoys spending time fishing in the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska and the Pulaski region. He is highly proficient in fishing the Delaware River, which some would say give one an Honorary Ph.D. in fly fishing. He spends his winters researching new territories, tying flies, and steel heading on the Lake Ontario tributaries.
Harry’s mission is to share his enthusiasm for the outdoors and fly fishing through his company, Berkshire Rivers Fly Fishing, by guiding tours for locals and travelers. Harry’s friendly attitude and passion for fly fishing make him the ideal guide for your Berkshire fishing adventure.
In addition to running guided fly fishing trips throughout the Berkshires, Harry is also a steward of fly fishing history, traditions, and conservation as an ambassador for the American Museum of Fly Fishing.
Bernie Saggau, Guide
Since his introduction to fly fishing on the Colorado River 10 years ago, Bernie has fished rivers big and small across these Great United States. From Alaska to Montana, to the streams of Northwest Iowa, his home state, Bernie channels his appreciation of the outdoors into a continually developing love of fly fishing.
Though he enjoys catching all species of fish and honing techniques new and old, Bernie is a trout fisherman at heart – nothing is more beautiful than a Berkshire brown!
Bernie will return to his home in Iowa for the winter months where he will further his passion for carpentry, one that comes second only to fly fishing.
Scott Megan, Guide
Born and raised on the St. Lawrence River in Northern Upstate New York, Scott has been an avid fisherman since he could walk. After college, he moved to Utah where he grew an obsession with fly fishing for trout in the many blue-ribbon waterways in the state. Multiple cross-country trips had him casting flies to trout in a vast number of states “dream streams,”
After returning to New York State, his focus changed to chasing the warm water species he grew up on, now with a fly rod. He has a true passion for chasing bass, carp, pike, and the elusive muskie on the fly. Seeing a big pike or muskie chasing a fly is what truly gets his heart pumping. If you’re looking to stalk native apex predator species, Scott is your guy!
With his three decades of fishing and boating experience, Scott is looking forward to getting clients a chance to enjoy some of the most memorable fishing experiences that the Capital District of New York and Western Massachusetts have to offer.
Jay Aylward, Guide
Jay has chased freshwater species with a fly rod across the country and has returned to his roots in western Mass to pursue trout and bass with flies. He has also developed many flies to chase each species. He owns the Handmade Angler where he guides, ties custom flies, and teaches fly fishing and tying classes. He knows that clients are expecting an experience that is bigger than the fishing.
Jay is at home on the water in his drift boat, or on foot in the backcountry. He guides all fly fishing enthusiasts, regardless of age and experience. Eight to Eighty-five, from first-time fly fishers to the full-blown addict. He is energetic, patient, and a passionate fly-angler. Enjoy your time on the water with someone who understands that there are fewer things better than pursuing fish with a fly.
