First fish burgers mark the start of Fisherman’s Picnic 2023

A larger piece of fish. A new bun. The same magic.

The first order of fish burgers at the Lion’s Club food stand in downtown Grand Marais marked the official start of Fisherman’s Picnic 2023.

Fisherman’s Picnic celebrates its 94th anniversary this year. The annual event typically takes place the first weekend in August (Aug. 3-6 this year). The celebratory gathering brings live music, interesting food, kid-friendly rides, local art booths and competitive sports that feature everything from log rolling to fish tossing to downtown Grand Marais.

And then there are the fish burgers.

People stand in long lines for a taste of the locally-caught herring that is fried and placed in a bun. The local anglers who caught the fish this year are having so much success finding larger fish the fish burger stand had to increase the size of the buns in order to hold the fried fish and serve it.

WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs was outside the fish burger stand at 11 a.m. Aug. 3, the moment the first fish burger was sold for this year’s picnic. Minnesota resident Tom Schnabel, and his son, Jude, were the first in line. They shared their experience from the fish burger stand with WTIP. Lion’s Club President Todd Smith also shared information about the 2023 fish burger stand. Learn more in the audio below.

Joe Friedrichs August 3, 2023