Our Guides

At Housatonic River Outfitters, we have great, handpicked guides. Whether you choose to fish the Housatonic River, Farmington River, Upper Naugatuck, Green River or many of the smaller tributaries and lakes, you will find these guides to be an invaluable resource for learning more about fishing these premier waters. These guides have more than half a century of fishing and guiding experience between them.

They will meet you at the shop, get you outfitted with any equipment you need, help you with your casting or fishing techniques (if needed), supply you with a gourmet meal and then take you out for for your day of fishing.

Always remember it's your day, so don't hesitate to tell us where you want to fish, what your quarry is (Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass and Pike) and any special diet requirements.

We specialize in group and corporate outings. For larger groups we will arrange your lodging, fishing and guide services, dinner reservations and additional activities such as canoeing, kayaking, hiking, antiquing, mountain biking and horseback riding. We work closely with many of the local inns, hotels, corporate education facilities, restaurants and recreation centers to guarantee your stay will be both active and stress free.

Whether it's a guide trip for the afternoon or a 6 day management team-building seminar, Housatonic River Outfitters will help you arrange every detail of your trip. Click this link to book yours, now.

Adam Franceschini ( Head Guide ) After getting started guiding on the famed rivers of western Montana. Adam has sense guided on the San Juan river and has spent time chasing peacock bass on the fly in the Amazon basin of Brazil. He is a year round Professional Guide Spending his summers in Alaska at Tikchik Narrows Lodge and the spring and fall on the Housatonic river.

William Abrams For those of you who love bamboo rods - Streamer will be hosting wade trips with bamboo rods from the store. Book him for a full or 1/2 day and discover the secrets of a master bamboo rod builder. Streamer has guided locally since his teens and fished the Housatonic for over forty. As a bamboo rodmaker, he also finds it imperative to spend a good deal of time in research and product development, knee deep in the Housatonic, mostly fishing dries to rising fish. Find out more about Streamer at his website HousatonicRods.com or in the book "Casting A Spell" by George Black.

Will Ardussi - Will is another very talented fishermen who grew up in the area, seemingly born with a fishing rod in his hand from the time he could walk. His diverse fishing backround with various tackle for all sorts of fish made him an excellent fisherman. His brother is an expert fly fisherman who taught him the ropes, and that combined with his guide school training has molded a very adaptable guide. His enthusiasm and energy levels are high, and he truly enjoys getting his clients into fish. Will is adept at catching all species of fish in the Housatonic and elsewhere, on fly or spin tackle. You will find a day with him to be a learning experience, and he is equally adept with kids, beginners and experts. Will has his own raft and does both float and wade trips, and he knows the Housy and Farmington Rivers well. He is also one of our guides who specializes in Euro-style nymphing.

David Bailey - Retired - loves to guide on the river and is a favorite for wade trips.

Torrey Collins - Shop Manager - and local Euro and Czech nymphing expert - Torrey was one of the individuals who brought these nymphing strategies to the front page of fly fishing here in the east - his modesty has kept him in the background - unlike others - but he is an unsung hero of Euro Nymphing. He teaches a number of classes here in the store and is one of the finest nymph fishermen in the east - bar none.

Keith Godfrey - Boat Captain - Works for DEP - He has guided with us for 3 years and specializes in Warm Water Trophy Fishing. If you want to catch a trophy Pike on a fly - book Keith.

Alex Hvatsky - Loves to Wade fish - has fished the Housatonic for 25 years and has guided with the shop for 10.

Greg Lethbridge aka "Elvis" - a local expert angler, Greg is a very professional guide who gets consistent results on his trips. Very adept at getting clients into trout on nymphs, streamers and dries, he has also paid his dues on pike and is one of our guides who excels in putting his sports onto them. In the Summer, Greg also loves to target Smallmouth Bass on the Housy, and he knows more than a trick or two to get them on the end of your line. He has his own raft and does both wade and float trips. Put him in a white jumpsuit and you will see where he gets his nickname. Easygoing and confident, Greg will get you into fish.

Danny Marino - our youngest guide is one of our most knowledgeable, and he knows both the Housy and Farmington Rivers very well. A Cornwall local and former captain of Youth Flyfishing Team USA, Danny helped the team win a gold medal in international competition (he's been to 4!), and won an individual Silver, their best results to date fishing against the best fly fishermen in the world. Danny has fished with all tackle for all species and is deadly on trout and bass with all methods, but he just might be our best Euro nympher, and is also dialed in on Housy pike. Don't underestimate him by his young age, he can fish circles around almost anyone. His mentors have been some of the best fishermen in the world- Joe Humphreys, Vladi Trezbunia, George Daniels, Aaron Jasper, and many other experts. I've fished many times with Danny, and he is without doubt one of the absolute best I've seen, and I've fished with some very talented people.

Bert Ouellete - An antique dealer by profession - focuses on driftboat fishing - loves to cast a dryfly and prepares the best lunches out there. Bert has been guiding here for 5 years. Spends almost all his free-time casting to rising fish.

Bob Perrella - Johnny Trout-Seed - Retired - an excellent wade fishing guide - Adept on the Housatonic, Farmington and Shepaug Rivers. If he's not fishing for trout - he's stocking them.

Jim Plante - Jim specializes in the learning aspect of the sport - he teaches numerous tying, nymphing and fishing classes for the shop and is extremely patient with beginners. He has his own website dedicated to fly fishing. Jim has been guiding with us for 3 years.

Robert Scalzo - Our local Carp Commander - while being an excellent trout guide - utilizing European and Czech nymphing stratgies - he loves to fly-fish for carp.

Swede - he has been fishing the Housy since the 60's, and has probably forgotten more about fishing the river than most people will ever know. A former HFFA president in the club's early days, he loves the Housy and also knows the Farmington quite well. Swede is a very patient, knowledgeable, easygoing guide. If you want to really learn how to fish wet flies and soft hackles the "proper" way, book a day wading with him, it's his favorite technique and he's deadly at it. He is also extremely adept with dries, nymphs and streamers, and can work with you on your casting.



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