If you’ve traveled to Bayfield you may have stopped by Hoop’s Fish Market and brought some fresh fish home with you as your leaving town.

Well this year they’ve opened a project that was years in the making. It allowed the Hoopman’s to serve their fresh fish directly from Lake Superior to your plate.

This past Memorial Day weekend Billie and Craig “Hoop” Hoopman opened Hoop’s Dockside, a restaurant located right against Lake Superior.

“So Dockside has been a work in progress for years,” says Billie, “A lot of people didn’t know what we were doing down here because we’re a little bit off the beaten path.”

After years of construction the Hoopmans were able to turn their rocky shore into a ginormous dock and kitchen with a beautiful view of the bay.

Billie says, “Our dock allows people to be next to the water, which isn’t something that is offered in Bayfield. And the panoramic views never get old. It’s quiet, it’s serene, you hear the water lapping, and then you might come the next night and hear music and just enjoy dancing.”

Thanks to the hard work of Craig and his fishermen crew, the fish they serve is fresh.

“We leave here every morning a little before 5:00 a.m.,” says Craig, “we get back here at the latest at 10:00 or 10:30 at the very latest so we can get the fish off the boat, get it in the building, get it processed, get it seasoned, get it breaded, and get it out to the kitchen so we can open up at 11:30.”

He goes on to say, “My wife and I really put our heart and soul into this. When you come down my driveway, I really did not want to take away from any of this, to see Madeline Island, Long Island, Holton Point, and to look at the lake. We didn’t want to lose any of that. So yeah, it’s been a good thing.”

And Hoop says if you find a fish that tastes fresher than theirs and tastes better to tell him. “And I’m serious about that. I’ve worked on this, I make my own breading, and I’ve put a lot of effort into it. Knock on wood. I have not had any complaints,” says Craig.