This Quebec museum owner helped save striped bass in the St. Lawrence River. Here’s how

Normand Robitaille’s museum features numerous fishing artifactsIt doesn’t cost anything to visit the unique fishing museum and boutique Normand Robitaille owns and operates behind his home on Île d’Orléans, a picturesque island in the St. Lawrence River. An entry fee would only hamper his mission to pass on knowledge about fish and fishing, and spoil a joke he likes to use on visitors. “I tell them admission is free if they tell me a fishing story,” Robitaille says. “It’s a fun way for me to engage people and get them talking about fishing. And I love to hear fishing stories.”

Robitaille opened L’Atelier, Histoire de Pêche in 2015 in the riverside village of Saint-Laurent, housed in an old wooden building he converted into a traditional salmon fishing camp, complete with a front porch. The impressive collection of antique fishing items, which he amassed over the past 50 years, includes fly, casting and specialty rods and cases, as well as flies, tackle, photos and books. Most of the artifacts are linked to the St. Lawrence and Île d’Orléans, which lies just five kilometres east of Quebec City; some are from Robitaille’s ancestors.

Among the items, for example, is a bamboo fly rod and an aluminum carrying case made by famed Canadian munitions maker Dominion Arsenal in the 1940s. Both were custom-made for Robitaille’s paternal grandmother, Gilberte, a successful Quebec City businesswoman who loved to fly fish. “They are unique and exceptional pieces,” he says.

I tell them admission is free if they tell me a fishing story, Robitaille says

As well, the museum houses a 540-gallon, government-approved aquarium that holds a dozen fish species, including eels and striped bass, which Robitaille and his son Patrick catch in the spring in the nearby icy waters of the St. Lawrence, then release when the museum closes for the winter after Thanksgiving.

Also on display—and for sale—is fishing gear and artwork created by Robitaille, a visual artist who retired as a construction tradesman in 2022. Items include his specialty hand-tied flies and carbon fly-fishing rods, along with everything from hand-painted mugs and glasses to acrylic paintings and designs on ceramic tiles. “I always get positive feedback from visitors, even those who don’t fish,” he says. “I think people get their money’s worth.”