March 1, 2025
By Anne Franco McAndrew
Photographs By Rana Faure
While other Westchester County kids were at summer lacrosse camp, Ethan Raskind was game hunting in Colorado. It was summertime during the ’80s and, as Raskind says, “my dad, uncle, and I would load the pickup and go.”
Time spent fishing and hunting would later in time transition to a career choice. He spent his young adult life in Vail, guiding and working for Garth Brothers, a well-respected outdoor business in Colorado, before moving back East with his wife, Amy, in 2002. “Literally, I have been outdoors my whole life,” he says.
Raskind owns a brick-and-mortar store, Sportsmen’s Connection in Kent. It’s tucked back away from Main Street; you could easily miss it. But take the time to stroll down the driveway to the barn-inspired building. Once you walk through its door, you find a treasure trove of necessities and gadgets. The rustic aesthetic is the perfect backdrop for the everything-outdoors inventory. Camp stoves and gaiters, rods and reels, even snowshoes and backpacks are all part of it. A very comprehensive selection of flies can be found, as well as live bait (including minnows). “The Northwest Corner offers every opportunity for hiking, fishing, and hunting—everything I love to do. My inventory reflects that.”
Raskind is also a professional river guide. He doesn’t have that “look at me” personality. He is understated and knowledgeable, undeniably outdoorsy, ruggedly handsome, and cavalier with his dress. Oh, and one more thing. He knows where the fish are.
He has been fishing the Housatonic River for more than 20 years. He has expertise in both spin and fly fishing, so whichever is your pleasure he is at the ready. He uses a 16-foot ClackaCraft drift boat that seats himself and two others. The favored route is from Falls Village to Bull’s Bridge, with stops anywhere the telltale ripples are seen. This isn’t a wing-and-a-prayer ride. Raskind knows “every rock” along the way.
Stretching 149 miles from western Massachusetts through Connecticut before reaching its final destination of Long Island Sound, the Housatonic supports a variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms that, according to Raskind, create a healthy environment and a “conveyor belt of food” for myriad fish. Carp, pike, small- and large-mouth bass, crappies, and brown and rainbow trout can be found in the river. “A guided trip is not just about the water and the fish. This river is a huge player in the ecosystem of the Northwest Corner,” Raskind explains.
The Housatonic is world-renowned for its fishing, which results in sports enthusiasts traveling from everywhere to angle the river. Raskind specifically includes the Cornwall Trout Management Area (TMA) in his trips. The state stocks this stretch with rainbows and browns, so chances are that you will hook a prized trout. The TMA is catch-and-release only.
A trip is either a half or full day. Waders, tackle, and bait are all included.—Housatonicfishing.com
