Mack Days Fishing Events on Flathead Lake are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and are used as a tool to reduce the non-native lake trout and increase native bull trout and westslope cutthroat in Flathead Lake. The event continues until Saturday May 10th. There is up to $225,000 in Cash and Prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the event on May 10th. Four weeks are left-entries are taken until the last day-go to www.mackdays.com for information on the event, fishing tips, rules, bonus chart, etc. There is also a summary of activities from 2023 fisheries management on the lake with a lot of information on the tools being used in this effort.
Every angler in the event is helping in this conservation effort to reduce the non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake and increase the native bull trout and westslope cutthroat. The native fish cannot be replaced, genetics and instincts are imbedded in the fish’s body and their memory of where they came from and it is important to sustain their populations for the future. They have been here for thousands of years and have earned the right to continue to live and thrive in Flathead Lake. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are leading this effort to restore the populations of these fish to higher levels. Thank you anglers, you are leaders that care about this resource.
Kolton Turner of Kalispell has 14-100 fish days. He leads the Top Twenty with a total of 1,468 (Fri-100, Sat-100, & Sunday 68), 2nd Bob Turner of Kalispell 1,413 (100, 100, 55), 3rd Jason Mahlen of Kalispell 1,412 (100 X 3), 4th David Myers of Riverton WY 1,250 (100 X 3), 5th Clint Speer of Kalispell 1,056 (100,43,71), 6th Jerry Benson of Plains 990 (67,40,75), 7th Patrick Casey of Townsend 884 (100,38,55), 8th Gene Corne of Kalispell 868 (100,45,46), 9th Steve Andrachick of Kalispell 840 (86,45,65), 10th Michael Benson 802 (72,32, & 58), 11th Larry Ludahl of Kalispell with 741, 12th Terry Krogstad of Kalispell with 676, 13th Jack Kirkland of Lolo with 660, 14th Michael Stevenson of Kalispell with 625, 15th Larry Ashwell of Missoula with 592, 16th Bob Stewart of Kalispell with 562, 17th Brodie Smith of Kalispell with 546, 18th Bryan Long of Columbia Falls with 539, 19th Julie Perkins of Kalispell with 529, and 20th Larry Karper of Florence with 518.
Julie Perkins leads the Ladies with 491, 2nd Janet Myers of Riverton Wy with 319, 3rd and 4th Connie Jones of Kalispell and Shaunda Albert of Ronan are tied with 126 each, and 5th Laurie Bouley of Columbia Falls with 41.
Friday’s total entries were 2,174 fish, Saturday 1,461, Sunday 2,168, and Mon to Thurs total is 6,491 bringing the total so far in this event Mon to Sunday to 34,179. Strong winds and waves on Saturday brought many off the water early. Anglers were given a heads up by good weather advisories from the National Weather Service and were anticipating the wind coming up.
Michael Goven of Kalispell and Robert Turner each turned in $100 tagged lake trout. Willy the elusive lake trout with a $10,000 tag is still out there. There are also 3-$5,000, and 4-$1,000 plus over 9000 with values from $100-$500. Tagged lake trout give information on growth rates of the fish. Everyone knows they move around in the lake but the tagged fish really show how they move from one end of the lake to the other end such as the $1,000 tagged fish caught by Michael Stevenson of Kalispell on 4/5. It had been tagged in Skidoo Bay on 3/4 and caught on the north end of the lake in the Delta area so it moved the full length of the lake in that month!
Dave Myers of Riverton WY has fished thirty-two days straight-every single day of the event. Lowest number of entries for a day is 21 and he has turned in 100 fish limits seven days out of the fifteen weekend fishing days. His wife Janet joins him out on the water most days fishing many hours on the lake. Dave sits in fourth place in the Top Twenty Category with 1,250 entries and Janet is sitting in second place in the lady’s category with 371 entries.
Another rod and reel event happened Sunday when one was pulled overboard—this happens every so often and it an awful feeling when you watch your pole going down and fading out of sight. Fishing with two rods is tricky! Jeff Hale had a fish on one rod and was retrieving what he thought was a smaller lake trout and all of a sudden, he felt something hit the back of his leg. Looking around he realized it had to be his other pole at the same time it went whizzing over the side of the boat. No retrieve possible it was gone, sinking to the depths of the lake! His brother Scott had an extra pole he lent him so back to fishing he went. About an hour later he hooked onto something, that felt strange and then he realized it felt like a large lake trout at the end of the line. He started reeling it in and up came his other line with a big laker at the end of it and a smaller lake trout on the other line. By the time they had the big fish landed four lines were tangled up which requires a lot of patience to untangle but Jeff added two lake trout to his entries for the day and was very happy to have his pole back!
Brodie Smith of Kalispell continues to bring in large numbers of entries. He has been fishing for several years and is 1st in the 13-17 Category with 546 lake trout entries, 2nd Fjord Borgen of Kalispell with 14, David Gerspach of Kila and Sawyer Clark of Columbia Falls are tied for 3rd with 3 entries. Benjamin Dieterich of Kalispell is 1st in the 12 & Under with 22 entires, 2nd Carter Lindsay of Pablo with 14, 3rd Mason Cusker of Bigfork with 6, 4th Wyatt Best of Florence has 3, and Allyvia Yang of Missoula has 2 for 4th place.
Jerry Benson leads in the 70 & Over with 990 lake trout entries, 2nd Michael Benson with 802, 3rd Terry Krogstad with 676, 4th Jack Kirkland with 660, and 5th Larry Ashwell with 592.
Smallest lake trout entries are Mike Colyer Missoula with a 164mm 6.5” lake trout and Korey Heindahl of Kalispell with a 162mm small lake trout.
Matt Brazda of Missoula still holds the largest fish category with a 36.25” 20.5lb lake trout. The largest lake trout is place by the heaviest over 36” and 20lbs.
Weekend winders-$200 Devon Burkowski of Kalispell, $100 each-David Kelch-Great Falls, Brodie Smith, David Myers, and Bob Stewart of Kalispell.
The second of the Bucket Days is Saturday 4/19. Winner with the heaviest bucket receives $200.
Time to get out on the water and try your luck. The $10,000 lake trout may be waiting for you. All it takes is one fish to win in the lottery drawings. Bonus dollars begin when angler’s entries get to 11 and go up as the total number of entries go up. Check out the bonus chart on the website.
Be safe and please follow all safety precautions & be aware of weather predictions, it’s Spring in Montana, anything is possible!
Tight lines and good luck everyone!
–CSKT–
Photo: Mike Colyer of Missoula with his small fish entry 164mm 6.5” lake trout
