You still have time to get your fishing lines in the water on Flathead Lake to try your luck at catching lake trout during the 2021 Fall Mack Days Fishing Event!
Anglers have turned in a total catch of 11,615 lake trout entries. A total of 1,878 lake trout were turned in last week from Monday to Thursday. The weekend total from Friday to Sunday was 9,767 lake trout entries. Friday’s catch was 401, Saturday’s catch was 323, and Sunday’s total was 178 lake trout turned in.
Montana fall weather has begun. Waves were rough and very relentless on Sunday, one of the worst days ever on the water! You don’t know what type of weather will hit while you are on the lake so be prepared for anything. Rain, wind, sun, snow, cold, etc. These anglers are awesome; many are out on the water for hours every single day. They work hard bringing in their catch while helping to restore a balance between the native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout population and the non-native lake trout population of the lake.
There is Up to $200,000 in Cash and Prizes sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes available to anglers who have caught and entered at least one lake trout. All it takes is one fish to get you in the lottery drawing that begins at $50 and goes to $2,000 or maybe you will be lucky and catch a $5,000 tagged fish. Once anglers reach eleven lake trout entries they begin to accumulate bonus amounts. The higher their total the higher the bonus amount. Tagged lake trout with values from $5,0000-(3), $1,000-(5), and over 9,000-$500 to $100 are out there. Plus there is one extra $1,000 sponsored tagged fish for merchandise at Bretz RV and Marine in Missoula. There are several categories or ways to win. Check them out at www.mackdays.com.
Anglers continue to use all methods of fishing this time of the year. Trolling, jigging, long lining, casting-write your story and use what works for you.
The last of the three Bucket of Fish Days is Sunday-November 7th. Weights are taken of the four heaviest fish under 30”. Shore anglers have a chance to be real competitors in this category. This is the best time of the year to catch large fish from shore. Winner of a Bucket Day receives a $200 prize. There is a tie for best overall buckets-Rick Skates and Jens Gran are both tied at 18 pts. at this time.
Top Ten Anglers category is a horse race going into the last two weekends of the competition. Mike Benson of Lonepine is leading in number of entries with 867. Only behind by ten fish is Felix Gauci with 857. The Top ten anglers are placed by their best eighteen days. Felix has an average of 47.61 which has him in first and Mike has an average of 46.56 for second place. Stay tuned, there are only six days left to tell the story! Third place is held by the ever-popular Larry Karper of Florence with 657 and average of 35.56. Fourth place is seasoned Missoula angler Scott Bombard with 508 27.28, fifth Jack Kirkland of Missoula-491 27.0, sixth Terry Krogstad of Kalispell 489 and 25.89, seventh Larry Ashwell of Missoula 470 and 25.67, eighth Julie Perkins of Kalispell with 478 and 25.28, Sam Cusker of Bigfork is ninth with 440 and 25.88, and tenth is John Gauci of Florence with 430 and 23.83. So placings will change depending on how everyone does till the last day!
Larry Karper leads the 70 & Over group with 657, 2nd with 491 is Jack Kirkland, 3rd Larry Ashwell with 470, 4th John Gauci 430, Paul Grove of Wyoming, IL is 5th with 101. Anglers can only win in one category, they may choose to win in any category if they are in a winning position, so the winner of a category may be in a lower position, for this reason.
Julie Perkins has a total of 478 for first in the Ladies Category, 2nd Laurie Kreis of Huson with 327, Kim Mack of Missoula is third with 102, Gina Schiff of Whitefish 67, and Debby Sacchi of Thompson Falls has 51.
The 13-17 leader is Blake Williams of Big Arm with 9, 2nd Ashlin Peters of Polson-2, and 3rd Kaden Blowers of Missoula. The 12 & Under leader is Bryn Blowers with 3 and 2nd Wyatt Best of Florence with one.
Tagged fish turned in during the week were Paul Soukup of Polson-$100, Larry Ashwell-$100, Justin Underwood of St. Ignatius-$100, and Mike Benson-$100 and $200. Weekend winners: Jack Kirkland-$200, Mark McMillin-Missoula, Todd Wood-Ronan, Sam Cusker, and Mike Benson at $100.
Week eight is coming up, the weather forecast is looking good so far. Cool but no wind. Hoping for warm sun and calm lake waters. Come out get some tickets in the drawing. One ticket and you could be a winner! 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.
Tight lines everyone!
-CSKT-
