“I think commercial fishing is going to continue to decline. I mean, who wants to do what we do, work the hours we work, in the conditions we work in?”
wind, fog and high seas. They may have to deal with communications failures, fire or loss of power on board, and they may not have an easily accessible harbor of refuge if trouble strikes. And, during the winter months, there’s the ice. “We use the gillnetter in December and all winter,” Weborg said. “We do better, unless the ice is so bad that we have to tie her up.” While Ranger isn’t technically an icebreaker, she can break through 6 to 8 inches of solid ice with her steel hull. “She can break a lot of ice,” Weborg said, grinning. “We can run up onto it and punch through. In fact, before the Washington Island ferry line got the Arni J. Richter, we had to break ’em out!” Weborg also has assisted with emergencies at sea, including a 2006 medical situation aboard the famous lake freighter Arthur M. Anderson. In high winds and rough seas, his 50-foot open-decked trapnetter Robyn B carried two medics and a firefighter to rendezvous with the Anderson northeast of Washington Island. It was another day on the lake. Weborg and his crew go out in every season, in virtually all kinds of weather. 40 LAKELANDBOATING.COM F E B R U A R Y 2 011
“With chubs, we’d rarely lay in, and with the gill nets, we can fish pretty much any weather,” he said. “But with trap nets, we’re limited by the way the nets are set. If we get more than 4- or 5-footers out on the lake, or if there’s too much current, we don’t go—the gear will get damaged.” Then Weborg chuckled. “Dad used to say, ‘We’ll go out and look at it,’ but that usually meant you weren’t coming back, and the guys would grumble,” he recalled. “I’ve heard myself say it over the years. I guess that’s where I got it from!”
Harsh reality There are jokes among the men, and there is plenty of laughter. But the hazards are real. “When it comes to the dangers, honestly, the only way I can sleep at night is if we’re out of town,” Weborg said. “If there’s even a puff of wind, I’m awake.” Fishermen also routinely deal with gear that has to bear tremendous loads, and accidents can happen. “My brother lost his arm, four years ago May,” Weborg said simply. There was nothing more to say. It was part of the job.