The North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum in Tofte invites everyone interested in life on the Big Lake to a conversation with commercial fisherman Mickey Lorntson at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21.
Lorntson fished Lake Superior for 50 years. His fish house can still be seen on the property of Cove Point Lodge in Beaver Bay, where his family members were the first Norwegians to settle. His grandfather Martin came from a commercial fishing family in Trondheim, Norway. He brought Mickey’s father, Conrad, to Beaver Bay in 1896, at the age of three weeks. Conrad was a commercial fisherman for his whole life but described his son Mickey as “a better fisherman than I was, a die-hard fisherman.”
Mickey says an irresistible attraction led him into fishing when he was 16 and held him in its grip for 50 years. He fished in all kinds of weather, and retired from fishing in 1993, after pulling up a record catch in his nets and cleaning fish until 11 o’clock at night. He said to himself, “I’m 65 and I don’t need to keep doing this.” He has been enjoying retirement ever since.
The program is free. Hot cider, coffee and cookies will be served. The North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum is located in Tofte at Highway 61 and the Sawbill Trail. For more information, call the museum at (218) 663-7804 or email info@commercialfishingmuseum.org.
Leave a Reply