About Us

Our 
Story

First Catch LLC is a small tribal commercial fishing company based out of L’Anse, MI in the beautiful Upper Peninsula. Our company was first established in 2010, as a way to make ends meet for our owner, Paul Smith, while he attended classes at NMU. With two small kids at home, Paul needed a way to make money on his own schedule. In 2015, Paul took a break from fishing to pursue a career in law enforcement, but the lake still called to him. In 2019, Paul decided to go back to his true calling, only this time, he wanted to ensure the success of the business by opening a food trailer to serve his fish to the community.

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With help from family and friends, the food trailer pushed through the difficult times of 2020 and the following year, we hit the road to attend events such as powwows and county fairs. Paul had been on the hunt for a bigger vessel for the operation and finally found the Norska in 2023. Our bigger vessel meant we were capable of using trap nets, as well as gill nets, which meant fresher fish, and a lot more of it.