In 1889, Alick Johnson, a fisherman, came from Sweden to fish the Great Lakes. He first started fishing in Gills Rock, Wisconsin.

As the commercial fishing industry on Lake Michigan collapsed due to pollution, overfishing, and exotic invasions, Alick moved north to the supreme waters of Lake Superior where the fishing was still in its prime. In a little town called Port Wing, Alick began fishing the mighty waters of Superior with his three sons.

In 1947, Alick's youngest son Everett began smoking the freshwater fish in small oak & maple wood-fired smokehouses on his fishing dock. Ciscoes (chubs), Herring (bluefin), Whitefish, and Lake Trout were all caught and immediately brined and smoked by Everett to produce the freshest and highest quality product possible. Thus began the tradition of smoking perfection! In 1954, Everett built eight new smokehouses in response to the heavy demand for his smoked fish from Northern Minnesota & Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois.

Everett Fisheries is still family owned and operated by Everett's son Eric and his family. Throughout the years, Everett's still catches its own, brines its own, and smokes its own fish with the exact same recipe and smoking technique since 1947. Very few smoke fish companies can currently claim this smoked fish distinction.