News Photo by James Andersen An Andersen Family Salmon Derby trophy is pictured in James Andersen’s home in a recent photo. The trophy is one of two that displays nearly three decades of winners.

There’s a lot that people look forward to over Labor Day weekend, whether it’s barbecues, spending time on the beach to soak up one last summer weekend, or taking a family trip.

For me, Labor Day weekend has always been about tradition, a little bit of competition, and a family salmon derby.

The Andersen Family Salmon Derby has been a part of our summers for almost the last three decades as we’ve spent time at our family cabin in Ocqueoc Township.

It began in 1994 with a simple goal: Whoever catches the biggest salmon out of Rogers City, Hammond Bay, or the Hammond Bay Refuge Harbor — the ports we fish out of during the summer — gets their name on a trophy at the end of the season.

I was the very first winner of the salmon derby, though I don’t recall how big my fish was.

Through the years, my brothers, my dad, and I have each won multiple times, my dad and I have tied once, and my sister-in-law even got to add her name to the trophy several years ago.

Trips during the summer are a little less frequent now, but, growing up, the derby was very competitive, especially when the fishery was good and there were often several lead changes during the summer. It wasn’t uncommon for the current leader to continuously remind everyone that they were, in fact, leading the derby, often shouting, “Leader!”

The derby has been the source of a lot of great memories through the years and many of the trips have been logged into a family fishing journal that we frequently refer back to so we can remember some of the impressive fish we’ve landed.

In the derby’s second year, my dad won on one of the last fish of the season, a 19-pounder that I remember having to switch sides of the boat at least two or three times before I netted it.

Another year, our derby literally came down to the final fish weighed on the scale on Labor Day. I was ahead of my brother, Andy, by maybe a pound or two, and his final fish was slightly bigger than mine to take the win.

My favorite year of the derby was in 1998, when I won with a 22-pound king salmon. What made it extra special was that it was caught while my dad and I were fishing in a tournament out of Rogers City and we ended up with a doubleheader. We landed both fish — Dad’s was a 20-pounder — and ultimately won the tournament.

The biggest derby winner was 27 pounds and caught by my dad on Andy’s birthday. Andy’s biggest fish and first derby win came on a 24-pounder in Rogers City as we fished by a nearby freighter.

But our derby always ends on Labor Day weekend, often launching out of Rogers City and finishing in shallow water in Swan Bay. So it’s a last chance for all of us to catch one last big fish to win the whole thing.

The fish have been more plentiful in some years and, in down years, the derby winner has happened to be the only person to land a salmon. I can attest to at least one one of my wins coming that way.

But, nonetheless, the derby has always been fun and always been a great way to spend Labor Day weekend.

I may not win the derby this year, but, hopefully, I can hook into at least one fish this weekend.

Wish me luck!

James Andersen can be reached at 989-358-5686 or jandersen@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.