DILLINGHAM, Alaska (AP) – This oh-my moment was nowhere on the official schedule for President Barack Obama’s visit to Alaska: salmon spawning on his shoes.
“You see that?” Obama declared Wednesday. “Something’s got on my shoes. … Generally you don’t want fish spawning on your feet. He said he was happy to see me.”
Visiting an isolated fishing village on a grey, overcast day, the president was full of admiration for the whole operation: He pronounced salmon jerky “really good,” tried unsuccessfully to scare up a knife so he could attempt to fillet a fish, and carefully inspected smokehouse drying racks.
The president, wearing orange rubber gloves, held up a large silver salmon for reporters to admire but hastened to add: “I didn’t catch it. I don’t want anybody thinking I’m telling, you know, fish tales.”
He listened intently as a woman holding her own wiggly fish nonchalantly explaining the fishing process.