Mack Days enters third week of Flathead Lake fishing competition

The Mack Days tournament has had 209 lake trout anglers turn in a total of 9,031 fish so far. Friday entries were 747, Saturday’s sunshine brought out many anglers who caught a lot of fish with a total of 1,535. Sunday’s blustery wind, rain, snow, and high waves took their toll and kept the total to 600.

The third weekend total came to 2,882.

Randy Hovet from Charlo fished all day from shore on Friday turning in two fish, one of which was a $500 tagged fish.

Joe Schrader of Kalispell took his daughter fishing from his boat on Saturday, she caught 10 fish and one of them was a $100 tagged fish.

Sunday was her brother Adam’s turn to go fishing, he caught four lake trout, one with a $100 tag. And to top it off, Joe also caught a tagged one.

Scott Mahlen turned in two $100 tagged fish on Saturday that were caught at the same time, one on a jig and the other on a fly.

Turning in a $200 tagged fish was David McDaniel of Polson.

Other $100 tags were turned in by Larry Schmill of Missoula, Scott Bombard of Missoula, Karl Weeks of Columbia Falls, and Bill Swaney of Pablo.

Mike Benson of Lonepine leads the anglers with 355 entries, Chuck Forgey of Arlee is in second place with 311, Steven Benson of Four Lakes, Wash. is in third with 302.

Don Beville of Lakeside is in fourth with 293, Scott Bombard of Missoula is in fifth with 275.

Danny Smith of Hot Springs is in sixth with 274, seventh is David McDaniel of Polson with 257, eighth is Jason Mahlen of Kalispell with 257, ninth is Craig Morigeau of Polson with 256, and tenth is Terry Krogstad of Kalispell with 249.

Placing in the event can change rapidly with a 100 per day limit. Top ten anglers are placed by their top 18-day average at the end of the event.

Susan Martin of Polson is in first in the ladies division with 69 entries. Following her is Tracy Powers of Missoula with 53, Terry Biere of Butte with 37, Kathryn Cox of Lakeside with 36, Sharon Beville of Lakeside with 18, Michelle Slyder of Billings with 18, and Deana Knipe of Polson with 11.

Youth 13-17 angler leader is Connor Kowalski of Florence with 111. Second place is Tanner Murry of Columbia Falls with 78, third is Roger Guillory of Kalispell with 16, fourth is Brady Weible of Charlo with 12.

Keegan Noyd of Missoula is in fifth with 11, sixth is Wyatt Jensen of Polson with seven, Eric Sams of Polson is in seventh place with six fish, Kobe Cox of Charlo has four, and Bailey Weible of Charlo has three.

The 12-and-under group is lead by Garett Vaughan of Charlo with 56, second is Dylan Hodgson of Kalispell with 21, third is Autumn Powers of Missoula with 18, followed by Danner Shima of Kalispell with 11, Kailey Schrader of Kalispell with 10, Adam Schrader with eight, Carson McDaniel of Polson with five, Cole Gilleard of Charlo with five, Casey Bradshaw of Kalispell with two, and Brianna Stone of Polson with one.

Entries are taken until the last day of the event. Information can be found at www.mackdays.com or telephone 883-2888 ex. 7294.

Everyone should always be alert of the weather changes and have proper safety equipment on board. Know fish identification before going out. Bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout are illegal to keep on Flathead Lake. Go to the website for information on how to identify them or contact your local FWP or CSKT Fisheries Dept. for information.