Spring tradition: Anglers vied to catch Penobscot’s presidential salmon

One hundred years ago, a local fly-fisherman decided to send an Atlantic salmon, the first one caught in the Penobscot River, to the president of the United States. This is the story of that fisherman, and the tradition he began, compiled from newspaper archives and interviews with anglers.

LINK (Via:The Bangor Daily News)

From Atlantic Salmon Angling on the Penobscot by John Burrows (PDF)

Since the dawn of the recreational salmon fishery on the Penobscot, there has been an informal competition every spring among anglers to be the first to catch the season’s first bright salmon. Local hotels paid top dollar for the first salmon angled from the river and undoubtedly there was great pride in being that first successful angler. A twist was added in 1912 when Karl Anderson decided to send his salmon to President Taft. The Presidential Salmon Tradition was born, and from that day forward the first salmon caught in the State of Maine (often in the Penobscot, but not always) was sent to the President of the United States. What Mr. Anderson began as a way to generate civic pride and to show respect for the President soon grew into a spirited annual competition among anglers to land the year’s first bright salmon.

In 1992, President George H. W. Bush was the last President to receive a Presidential salmon.