This Guide on Lake Superior Has Helped Break the Minnesota Lake Trout Record Four Times in a Row

Lake Superior trout guide Ethan Waytashek is on one hell of a roll these days. On May 9 one of his clients, Joseph Bouta, landed the new Minnesota record lake trout.

The catch marks the fourth time that one of Waytashek’s clients has broken Minnesota’s catch-and-release laker record. In fact, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources can’t even keep up with his record-breaking catches. On May 18, the DNR announced that a resident angler, Matthew Hammer, had broken the state’s catch-and-relase lake trout record with a 44-incher he caught while fishing with Waytashek in April. (This is despite the fact that Waytashek and Bouta had already topped that fish in May).

Hammer’s trout replaced the standing state catch-and-release record held by Isaiah Bartlett — a 43.25-inch laker that was also caught aboard Waytashek’s boat during a guided trip on Lake Superior in March of 2025.
This streak goes back even further, though.

“I knew [Isaiah’s’] fish topped the current catch-and-release laker record,” Waytashek told Outdoor Life last spring, “because the woman [Kelsey Vanderheyen] who caught it fished with me last year on Superior.”

Waytashek will soon be adding a fourth feather in his cap. His latest (and biggest) lake trout from Lake Superior — the same one Joseph Bouta reeled in on May 9 — measured 45.5 inches long.

Joseph Bouta with the massive, 45.5-inch lake trout that has already replaced Hammer’s catch-and-release record. Photo courtesy Ethan Waytashek / Lake Superior Jigging Guide Service

Waytashek’s outfitter, Lake Superior Jigging Guide Service, focuses exclusively on vertical jigging for huge lake trout. He says he always releases the bigger, trophy-sized lakers, which are all around 30 to 40 years old. Waytashek declined an interview request for this story, but he shared some of the details behind Bouta’s catch in a series of text messages.

“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,” writes Waytashek. He says they pivoted to launch in Two Harbors, Minnesota instead. “I had told them if they just wanted to go fishing and catch eater-sized trout with a chance of a big one, we could do that. They agreed because some fishing is better than not going at all.”

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They were joined that day by Bouta’s son, Andrew, who’d fished with Waytashek before. But Joseph had never caught a lake trout before that morning. His first two came back-to-back, just 10 minutes apart. Both fish hit jigs tipped with fresh smelt that Waytashek had netted just a few nights before.

“We were fishing this spot and locked into the waves when the trout slammed the jig. I could tell the fish was fairly big by the mark on my 2-D depth finder,” Waytashek writes. “It took about 10 minutes to get the fish in and when I netted it I didn’t think it was that big. I’ve caught so many big trout now I really don’t get that phased by them anymore.”

Pulling out the bump board, Waytashek measured Bouta’s fish at 45.5 inches.

“I turned around to those guys and said, ‘I guess we just caught a new state record.””

Measuring a state-record lake trout. — Photo courtesy Ethan Waytashek / Lake Superior Jigging Guide Service

After handling the fish carefully and taking the required photos for record verification, the anglers released the fish back into Lake Superior. They finished out the day with a few keeper-sized lakers and then Waytashek had them follow him back to his house to fill out a record application. He confirmed with Outdoor Life on Tuesday that MDNR has already certified Bouta’s 45.5-inch lake trout as the new state catch-and-release record.

“Hi Ethan, YES – Mr. BOUTA’s trout was also certified,” reads a recent email that was sent to Waytashek by Mandy Erickson, who oversees MDNR’s record fish program. “Your new target is 46” — good luck!”

The agency has not yet updated its record book to reflect Bouta’s new record, but Waytashek says he expects MDNR to announce the new catch-and-release record soon. It’s a process he’s familiar with after going through it three times before — all within the last two years.

woman holds up record laker — Kelsey Vanderheyden was fishing with Waytashek when she caught the state’s catch-and-release record for lake trout. Bartlett’s fish stands to replace this one, a 42 1⁄2-inch fish caught April 21, 2024 on Lake Superior. Photo courtesy Ethan Waytashek

Man holds up a record lake trout in Minnesota — Kelsey Vanderheyden was fishing with Waytashek when she caught the state’s catch-and-release record for lake trout. Bartlett’s fish stands to replace this one, a 42 1⁄2-inch fish caught April 21, 2024 on Lake Superior. Photo courtesy Ethan Waytashek

Minnesota, like many other states, maintains two separate categories for fishing records: traditional records based on weight, and catch-and-release records, which are based entirely on the fish’s length. This second category was recently created (and then expanded in 2024) to satisfy the growing demand from anglers who want to be recognized for state-record catches, but who also want to release their fish instead of going through the official weigh-in process, which often leads to the fish dying.

There are several requirements for a Minnesota catch-and-release record, including multiple photographs that clearly show the fish being measured, and a witness to the catch who can sign their name on the record application. The fish also has to be at least one-quarter inch longer than an existing record in order to qualify. Looking at the four state-record lake trout that Waytashek has helped his clients catch, each fish has surpassed the previous length record by at least three-quarters of an inch: