BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2022
[Caution: This is a very incomplete history.] On April 1, 1912, Bangor resident Karl Anderson headed to the Bangor Salmon Pool, to hit the water on the first day of fly fishing season in the Penobscot River. The 11-pound salmon Anderson reeled in was the first one caught that season, and it so delighted him that he packed it in ice and shipped it down to Washington, D.C., for the dinner table of then-President William H. Taft, as a token of respect. Thus began a tradition that lasted for decades, with Penobscot River anglers sending the first salmon caught in the river to the president — a tradition that ended in 2000, after the species gained protection under the Endangered Species Act. Aside from 2006 and 2007 when brief catch-and-release seasons were allowed, no salmon have been legally caught on the Penobscot River for more than 20 years.