Stevensville angler takes the lead in Mack Days

Stevenville angler Max Martz moved into the lead during the fourth week of the 2012 Fall Mack Days Fishing Event with 450 fish. The overall total for the fall event is 5,607. Wind and rain hampered the anglers especially on Sunday but they still turned in 1,350 for the weekend. After 12 days of fishing there have been $6,300 in tagged fish turned in.

Martz took the lead in the mens division after entering 70 lake trout entries last Friday, 51 on Saturday, and 23 on Sunday. Mike Benson of Lonepine moved to second place with his total of 440 entries. Benson caught 28 fish last Friday and 34 on Saturday. Third place angler Scott Bombard of Missoula posted entries of 46, 34, and 43 for a total of 436.

Steve Benson of Four Lakes, Wash. holds fourth with 51, 42, and 33 from last weekend and a total of 420. In fifth place is Craig Morigeau of Polson with 268, sixth is Phil Merideth of Kalispell with 239, seventh is Don Beville of Lakeside with 216, eighth is Chad Cottet of Polson with 175, ninth is Alvin Haase of Corvallis with 173, and 10th is Larry Karper of Florence with 171.

Anglers may enter up to 100 lake trout each day under 30 inches or 99 lake trout under 30 inches and one over 36 inches.

Sharon Beville of Kalispell made a move last Saturday with 17 entries, taking over the top lady angler spot with 44. Second is Kim McMillie of Ronan with 34, third is Julie Vacca of Florence with 30, fourth is Suanne Albrecht of Polson with 24, and fifth is Deana Knipe of Polson with 22.

Eric Sams of Polson leads the 13-17-year-old group with 36 and Mark Herzog of Missoula leads the 12-and-under group with six entries.

Last weekend’s $100 tagged fish winners were Jim Hoover of Whitefish, Knipe, Morigeau, Chad Cottet of Polson, Richard Kreis of Huson, Brian Gregerson of Kalispell, and Reed Blackburn of Kalispell. Bombard caught three $100 tagged fish.

Martz and Brian Casman of Kalispell each caught $200 tagged lake trout.

Bonus amounts are paid to anglers who enter 20 or more lake trout in the event. Amounts go up with the total entries an angler has at the conclusion of the event.

Prize categories include Top Angler prizes for the top 10 anglers, ladies prizes, as well as youth, captains, weekend, and over-70.

New to this year’s event is the Heaviest Bucket of Fish competition, which is held for three of the event days. The first day for this category was held in Septmber, and the second day was set for Saturday, Oct. 20. An angler or a team of anglers from one boat mark their four heaviest fish, and the heaviest bucket wins. When they enter the fish, those four are put in a bucket and a weight is taken. Points are given for the top five places and the top winner of the day receives $200.

The team of Roger Schiff and Kirby Adams of Whitefish hold first place with 19 pounds, 15 ounces. Second place is Phil Meredith and Nick Fister of Kalispell with 19 pounds and third place is John Gauci of Florence and Felix Gauci of Stevensville with 18 pounds, 10 ounces. Martz is fourth with 17 pounds, 11 ounces and fifth place is held by Dan Smith and Ralph Johnson of Columbia Falls and Jim Hoover of Whitefish.

The third and last day of this event will be Nov. 4. There is no large fish entry in the event so far. Smallest lake trout entries are held by Mike Benson and Tyson Cottet of Charlo.

Competitive fishing for Mack Days is held Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until Oct. 28 and then from Nov. 2-11 it’s 10 straight days of Flathead Lake fishing.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes sponsor the Mack Days Events, which are used to slowly reduce the non-native lake trout numbers in Flathead Lake. The event is sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Event organizers encourage anglers to be a part of the fishing events and be involved in making a difference for the native species in the lake by slowly reducing the numbers of lake trout.

Up to $125,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of this fall’s Mack Days event.

Every lake trout entered earns the angler a ticket in the lottery-style drawing for 50 cash awards, which range from $200-1,000. There are several additional ways to win in the event, including captain’s prizes, smallest fish, largest fish, ladies, youth categories, and the over-70 category.

There is no entry fee and entries are taken until the last day of the event.

The tagged fish category has one $10,000 prize fish, five $5,000 tagged-fish, and 10 worth $1,000. There are also over 4,000 $100-500 tagged lake trout that have been released in Flathead Lake. The most valuable tagged-fish were released the week before the event began and were located in several areas of the lake. Once an angler reaches 20 entries they receive bonus amounts depending on their total at the end of the event.

For information about the event, bull trout identification, recipes and more, go to www.mack days.com or call 883-2888 ex. 7294.