A well-iced skiff, two heavily clothed fishermen, and icy surroundings give some hint of the rigors of commercial fishing on Lake Superior in the dead of winter. Tom Eckel, left, and his brother Dick were ready to push off from their Grand Marais harbor dock in this undated photo from the News- Herald archives. The steel-hulled boat could push through 3-4 inches of ice: the 75-hp outboard pushed the bow up on the edge of the ice and the weight of the boat crushed it. If the ice wasn’t as thick, the boat could plow right through.
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