Mack Days fishermen haul in 14,330 lake trout
<p>A happy Mack Days fisherman with a big lake trout caught in Flathead Lake in 2009.</p>
Fishermen in this year’s Fall Mack Days caught 14,330 lake trout in Flathead Lake over 25 days, with an average catch of 573 fish per day.
The event, which concluded Nov. 17 with a fish fry and award ceremony at Blue Bay Campground, is sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes as a way to reduce the population of nonnative lake trout and to help native bull trout.
Terry Krogstad, of Kalispell, was the top angler with a 69 fish-per-day average over 15 days, totaling 956 lake trout.
Roger Schiff, of Whitefish, won $5,000 for catching a specially-tagged lake trout. Awards were handed out to fishermen who brought in the 144 fish that were tagged.
Last year, the event was held over 28 days and 14,632 lake trout were caught. In 2011, fishermen caught 18,357 lake trout over 33 days.