Fish Tugs of the Greatest Lake

ERIC

ERIC Built as the WILLIAM JR. at Peterson Boat Works, Sturgeon Bay, Wis. in 1936 for William Sellman, Manistique, Mich. The 50 ft. tug was equipped with a 75-90 HP Kahlenberg oil engine, air-operated net lifter, and 200-fathom recording depth sounder. The boat operated out of Grand Marais, Mich. for 17 years, and was later sold to Everett Johnson, Port Wing, Wis. Renamed ERIC, Johnson operated with the boat until the early 1960s, when a steel boat, EDITH J., was bought as a replacement. The ERIC had several owners after Johnson sold her. This boat is an exact duplicate of the BOB S., built at the same boatyard in 1935. What remains of the ERIC is sitting next to State Highway 13 north of Red Cliff, Wis.