National Trout Memorial

Kalkaska bills itself as a trout town, and downtown it once put a very large fish on a fountain to prove it. The National Trout Memorial, nicknamed the “Fisherman's Shrine”, was reported in 2020 as standing in front of the Kalkaska Museum, about 18 feet tall (sources differ slightly). Both Promote Michigan (2020) and Northern Express (2017) describe it as a fibreglass trout over a foam core.

Promote Michigan reported in 2020 that the idea came from three people chatting in a local tavern and was written on a bar napkin. The Chamber of Commerce said it had no money for it, so fundraising began, and The Leader and Kalkaskian reported on the project on 8 July 1965. Fred Perrin, a high school student, was first asked to sketch the design, architect Bud Weert drew the architectural design, and builder Ben Robinson of Elk Rapids constructed the fountain base, with stones from Torch Lake. Sculptor Leo Nelson worked from a real frozen trout at 19:1 scale, shaping a model in foam plastic from which Robinson made a mould. The fibreglass fish was painted in brook trout colours and unveiled at the 30th National Trout Festival in April 1966.