Week five of the 2021 Fall Mack Days Fishing Event sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes ended with a total of 9,291 lake trout entered by one hundred eighteen anglers out of the registered four hundred forty-three entrants. Up to $200,000 in Cash and Prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the event on November 14th.
The event is nine weeks long. Fish one day or everyday! Fridays total was 415, Saturday total was 516, and Sunday’s total was 400. Monday through Thursday total is at 1,558 and the Friday to Sunday total is at 7,733. There are many ways and categories to qualify for the awards. All it takes is one fish to win. Every lake trout entry gives anglers a chance to win cash awards from $50 to $2,000 in the lottery drawings.
Bonus dollars are earned once anglers reach a total of eleven entries. Dollars go up as totals go up. The chart is on the rules page on the website at www.mackdays.com. Click on events tab for the drop-down boxes.
“Freddy Mack”, the $10,000 fish named by Peter Dayton of Missoula, has been caught by the lucky angler Terry Krogstad of Kalispell. Peter Dayton will win a Siberian Soft Side Cooler if he turns in at least one lake trout entry before the event ends, for naming the $10,000 fish. There are still 3-$5,000 tagged fish, 5-$1,000 and over 9,000 with values from $100 to $500. Bretz RV and Marine of Missoula are also sponsoring a $1,000 tagged lake trout. Your chances of catching one of these tagged fish are greater than the odds were catching the $10,000 tagged lake trout! The angler that catches the Bretz RV tagged fish will enjoy shopping at Bretz RV and Marine.
Tagged fish with values of $100 were caught during the past two weeks by Laurie Kreis of Huson X 2, Steve Mack of Missoula, Kenny Garrett of Missoula, Julie Perkins of Kalispell, Justin Line of Missoula, Rick Skates of Polson, Mike Cosby of Thompson Falls, and Terry Krogstad of Kalispell.
Felix Gauci of Stevensville leads all anglers with a total of 766 lake trout entries, 2nd place is Larry Karper of Florence with 551, 3rd place is Mike Benson of Lonepine with 492, 4th place is Scott Bombard of Missoula with 419, 5th place is Jack Kirkland of Missoula with 416, 6th place is Sam Cusker of Bigfork with 378, 7th place is Richard Kreis of Huson with 361, 8th place is Larry Ashwell of Missoula with 349, 9th place is Julie Perkins with 345, and 10th place is Terry Krogstad with 383. Anglers can only win cash prizes in one category. Therefore, at the end of the 2021 Fall Mack Days event if an angler is in the Top Ten they can choose to stay in the Top Ten for that cash prize or if they are a leader-in one of the other categories, they can drop out of the Top Ten to claim that prize. Stay tuned, results may change at the conclusion of the event.
Leading the Ladies is Julie Perkins with 345 lake trout entries, 2nd place is Laurie Kreis of Huson with 265, 3rd place is Kim Mack of Helena with 95, 4th place is Gina Schiff of Whitefish with 59, and 5th Debby Sacchi of Thompson Falls with 48.
Larry Karper is 1st in the 70 and Over group with 551 lake trout entries, 2nd place is Jack Kirkland of Missoula with 416, 3rd place is Larry Ashwell of Missoula with 349, 4th place is John Gauci of Florence with 271, and 5th place is Paul Grove of Wyoming, Il. 101. Ashlin Peters of Polson has turned in 2 and Kaden Blowers of Missoula turned in one fish in the 13-17 group. Bryan Blowers has three entries in the 12 & Under and Wyatt Best of Florence has one.
The second Bucket Day was held on Saturday with Rick Skates of Big Arm turning in a bucket of four lake trout under 30 inches that weighed in at 30.05 lbs. First place gets 10 points, Rick had eight points from the first Bucket Day so his Bucket Day total is eighteen points. Second place goes to Jens Gran of Polson, with 27.4 lbs. for eight points, he had ten points from the first Bucket Day so his total is also at eighteen points. 3rd place was Richard and Laurie Kreis with 27.25 lbs., 4th place was Mike Benson with 21.85 lbs., and 5th place was Bob Church of Polson with 20.65 lbs. If there is a tie in points at the end of the three days it is broken by the total weight of the buckets.
Weekend drawing winners were: John Gauci of Florence $200, Bryon Long of Kalispell for $100, Scott Bombard, Larry Ashwell, and John Cusker of Missoula $100 each. A 158mm (6.5”) small lake trout entry was turned in by Larry Ashwell. It joins a 176mm (7”) also turned in by Larry.
Rick Skates of Polson has the only entry in the Largest Lake Trout Category so far with a 23.6 lb. 40.5” lake trout. Rick caught the lake trout on Saturday. Bretz RV and Marine of Missoula is sponsoring the $500 prize in this category.
Entries continue to be taken until the last day of the event. Go to the website www.mackdays.com or call (406) 270-3386 to find all the information on the event, fish ID, weather, entries, etc. The events are a management tool used to benefit native bull trout and cutthroat populations in Flathead Lake. Come out and enjoy fishing on Flathead Lake. Help to restore a balance to the fishery of the lake and make a difference for future generations.
Tight lines everyone!
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