Trip 6: June 29 – July 2, 2024

Catch and release.

For over 35 years, Wollaston Lake Lodge has been practicing catch and release.Upon ownership, one of the first things we did is install a detailed Creel Census. We wanted to know how many and what size class all of the fish we caught throughout a season would be. We have done that for 25 years.

What this has shown us over time is our fishery is both healthy and improving. But every once in awhile we have a shining example of our efforts to handle the fish properly and release them in good health.

During this trip one of our guests caught the very same fish he had caught before. The amazing thing is, it was 2 years and 2 days between encounters, with in 20 yards of each other and on the very same lure. The odds of calculating that this could happen are astronomical. Each fish is unique in it’s markings. Just like God’s miracle of snowflakes, each one is completely unique. The interesting thing, is that the fish hadn’t grown or diminished any way. It had reached it’s genetic potential and had everything it needed to stay healthy. Not all of us can grow to over 6ft tall regardless of how old we get, but to maintain it’s health over 2 years shows the quality of our fishery. To top it off, he caught the fish with his son and was able to share that moment with each other to complete the story.

Catch and Release WORKS!