The Gillingham Fish Company was established in 1886 and the Bay Port Fish Company in 1895. At their peak in the 1920s and 1930s, they shipped tons of perch, walleye, herring, whitefish, and carp to New York and Chicago in refrigerated railroad cars. Once known as one of the largest fresh water commercial fishing ports in the world, Bay Port retains a commercial fishery that operates much as it did in the past. Bay Port also offers sport fishing, water skiing, ice fishing, and hunting.