My uncle was a commercial fisherman on Lake Michigan, and had a smokehouse in his own backyard where he’d make his own smoked whitefish and trout. Of course the smokehouse was a great mystery to me at age 4 or so, and when I asked my aunt what it was, she said “that’s where your uncle Tom smokes his fish”. Over 6 decades later with both of them long gone, when I think of uncle Tom I still have an image of him out in his backyard with a lit fish in his mouth, puffing away happily.
Discussing this with my cousins, who helped him smoke the catch, they didn’t feel it was complex or problematic at all to set up and do. Of course a steady stream of fresh fish is required.
A neighbor down the beach from me was an avid sport fisherman also had his own smoker, which he used on salmon and trout. It was delicious!
Thinking back, I’d say about 1 neighbor out of every 20 or so along the beach had a smokehouse on their property.
So I grew up on smoked fish, and I’m still kicking at age 65.