For the fourth time in barely two years, Minnesota's catch-and-release record for lake trout has fallen — and for the fourth time in a row, the same guide was holding the net.
Joe Bouta of Benson, Minnesota, boated a 45.5-inch lake trout on Lake Superior on May 9, a fish the state Department of Natural Resources certified on June 4 as the new catch-and-release record. Remarkably, it was among the first lake trout Bouta had ever caught.
The man who put him on it was Ethan Waytashek, who runs the Lake Superior Jigging Guide Service out of Two Harbors and specialises in vertical jigging for trophy lakers. The morning had not gone to plan. "I was supposed to be guiding them in Michigan waters part of Lake Superior because of the winds [...] they were blowing a sustained 10 to 20 mph, and gusting 35 mph out of the north," Waytashek said.
Forced to improvise, he moved the group to calmer Minnesota water — and knew almost immediately what they had. "I turned around to those guys and said, 'I guess we just caught a new state record,'" he recalled.
Bouta's son, Andrew, who estimated the fish at north of 30 pounds, credited the guide's quick rethink. "We were supposed to fish the Michigan side of the lake that morning, but the wind was just too bad, so Ethan came up with an alternate game plan," he said.
The fish capped an extraordinary streak. Minnesota only created a catch-and-release record category for lake trout in 2024, recognising length rather than weight so that big, old fish can be measured, photographed and released alive. Since then, every single record has come on Waytashek's boat: Kelsey Vanderyheyden's 42.5-incher in April 2024, Isaiah Bartlett's 43.25-inch fish in March 2025, Matthew Hammer's 44-inch giant in April 2026, and now Bouta's 45.5-inch trout weeks later.
Waytashek attributes the run to where and how he fishes — targeting fish he believes are 30 to 40 years old and releasing every trophy, rather than chasing weigh-ins that often kill the largest specimens. The approach has not gone unnoticed at the DNR. After certifying Bouta's catch, fisheries staffer Mandy Erickson emailed the guide with a challenge: "Your new target is 46\" — good luck!"
For Bouta, the record came with a memory most lifelong anglers never get: a state-record fish on one of his first-ever trips for the species, landed in white-capped water roughly 100 feet down. The DNR will recognise the new record-holder at the Minnesota State Fair later this year.