Mahlen leads Mack Days

It took a long time for Jason Mahlen to get where he is.

Ten years ago the fisherman was barely able to scratch the top 50 in the Mack Days fishing tournament on Flathead Lake. Now Mahlen is sitting pretty in first place, over 300 fish ahead of the next competitor, Mike Benson.

But it took him hundreds of days of fishing Flathead Lake, often in brutal weather, to develop his touch. On Friday, Mahlen was fishing alone in his aluminum boat, about a dozen other boats clustered around him. He focused on his rod tip, watching for the slightest movement form his bait nearly 200 feet below the surface. He remained quiet and focused.

A 15-inch lake trout lifted the jig and Mahlen set the hook, hoisting the fish into the boat and right into the cooler, along with about 50 other fish he’d caught that day.

High winds kicked up around noon, and the boats scattered. Mahlen and Benson remained, though, slugging it out in the choppy water.

“Flathead Lake has a way of finding your weak spot,” Mahlen said. “If you have a sore back or legs, you’ll find out pretty quickly out here.”

Technology has helped Mahlen advance in the tournament. A GPS anchor is an electronic trolling motor that helps keep the boat positioned exactly where you want it, without having to drop a long anchor line. When jigging in 200 feet of water and having to move frequently, the new system is much easier for anglers. Mahlen’s navionics help identify bottom structure in the lake. “It’s a huge advantage to where we were 10 years ago,” Mahlen said. 

But, he added, catching soft-biting lake trout is “such a touch thing.”

Mahlen, who works at Lower Valley Processing, said he got his start in the Mack Days tournament watching legends like Wes Shockley. “He’d pull up fish after fish and I’d say ‘how does he do that?’ I thought there must have been some secret to it, but there’s no secret to it.”

Other than the touch.

That fine sense of being able to know when a fish hundreds of feet below you has nudged, lifted, bumped or bitten your jig.

Newer rods that are short and stiff help anglers find that touch. Mahlen and most of the top-five anglers in Mack Days use G-Loomis NRX rods. “The fish barely touch your bait,” Mahlen said. “They’re not going to sit and chow on it and wait until you jerk up on it.”

That’s despite the fact that Mahlen calls lake trout “coyotes.”

 “We’ve found duck feet, corn cobs, chicken bones, in them,” Mahlen said. “They’ll eat anything.”

Concentration is key.

“You have to stare at your rod tip,” Mahlen said. “That’s why I don’t like fishing with other people.”

Being able to find your touch, while bouncing around on Flathead Lake, is finely honed skill. “It’s more of a challenge in rough water to feel the bite,” Mahlen said. “It’s not easy fishing. Half the time you’re battling Mother Nature.”

On Friday, after most of the other boats had vacated the spot about a mile out from the mouth of the Flathead River, it was just Benson and Mahlen. Then it was just Mahlen, after Benson hollered, “I’m going over to the Glory Hole.”

Good-natured joking is part of the camaraderie of the tournament. “I don’t even know where that place is,” Mahlen said. “I doubt there is a Glory Hole.”

Conn Hodgson was surprised on Saturday when as he was casting out his rod. With cold hands he dropped his rod into the water. His son Doug and granddaughter Abby were fishing alongside him, and suddenly Doug had a fish on and started reeling it in. It was a double. Conn had caught a fish when his dad’s pole was sinking and his line had wrapped the line around his father’s. 

Mahlen will fish a total of 34 days in the spring Mack Days, and he’s in solid position to win his second-straight Mack Days title.

Last year was the first title he’d won in a Mack Days event. His highest place until then was fourth, three years ago.

It’s not likely that Benson, who has won spring Mack Days, won the Fall 2013 Mack Days and has been “first loser” several times (second place), will catch Mahlen and his commanding lead.

“Fishing against the legend is not easy,” Mahlen said. “If you stop fishing Benson is going to roll right over you.”

It’s not the total number of fish that wins the tournament, it’s the 18-day average. Mahlen lives on a slough near the lower Flathead River, so he gets his share of fishing. If it wasn’t for Mack Days, and the kind of cash an angler can reel in, he’d find other things to do. “Without this tournament I wouldn’t be out here 34 days,” he said. “I like fishing but I don’t know if I’d do 34 days a year out here.”

Now, other anglers are starting to move up in the ranks. Guys like Kevin Burns, who is now in fourth place, after being out of top-10 only a few years ago. “And my brother, who used to not be able to catch a fish, is a contender,” Mahlen said of his brother, Scott.

Spring Mack Days finishes May 18. After 24 days of fishing 231 anglers have turned in 21,471 lake trout. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes sponsor the event and the event has up to $150,000 in cash and prizes.

Mack Days Results

Jason Mahlen, 1,272 fish, with an 18-day average of 63.7. Mike Benson of Lonepine comes in second with 957 and average of 46.7; 3rd Scott Bombard-Missoula with 871 and 43.5; 4th Kevin Burns, Kalispell with 780 and 38.5; 5th Robert Turner-Kalispell-734 and 39.0 average; 6th Steven Benson-Four Lakes, Wash., 728-35.6; 7th Ryan Shima, Kalispell, 716, 39.7; (15 days), 8th Jerry Benson, Plains, 708, 34.1; 9th Danny Smith, Hot Springs, 655, 34.4; 10th Danner Shima, Kalispell, 650, 36.1 (17 days). Top ten anglers are placed by their 18-day average at the end of the event.

Julie Vacca leads the women with 99 followed by Leann Guillory of Kalispell with 64, Abby Hodgson, Kalispell, 63, Tracy Powers, Missoula, 51, and Connie Jones, Kalispell, 33.  

Danner Shima is leading in the age 13-17 category with 650. Danner had weekend entries of 53,17, and 78.  Following Danner is Garett Vaughan of Charlo with 343, Roger Guillory, Kalispell, 226, Kobe Cox, Charlo, 203, and Austin Shima, Kalispell, 170.

Larry Karper is first in the 70 and Over group with 380, 2nd Conn Hodgson-Kalispell-270, 3rd Jens Gran-Polson-50, 4th Roger Smart-Polson-80, 5th Ralph Johnson-Columbia Falls-36.

Matthew Guckenberg Jr. leads the 12 & under category with 162, 2nd Abby Hodgson-Kalispell-63, 3rd Aaron Lang-Kalispell-48, 4th Leah Banjai-Kalispell-17, and 5th-Shelbie Guckenberg-Kalispell-12.