Numbers are” down some from previous years due to days of wild windy weather hampering the anglers. Milder weather is in the forecast and will be welcomed by all of the anglers.
The 2017 Fall Mack Days Fishing Event continues until Sunday November 12th. Anglers have three more weeks to fish Flathead Lake and try to win a piece of $150,000 in Cash and Prizes sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The events are used as a tool to slowly reduce the numbers of non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake to increase the numbers of native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. Five weeks of the event are completed. A total of 8,570 lake trout have been turned in by one hundred and eight anglers fishing Tuesday through Sunday. Three hundred ninety four anglers are registered in the event.
are down some from previous years due to days of wild windy weather hampering the anglers. Milder weather is in the forecast and will be welcomed by all of the anglers.
The second day of the Bucket of Fish competition was held on Saturday with Richard and Laurie Kreis of Huson again turning in the heaviest bucket of four lake trout weighing 30.85lbs for the $200 prize, 2nd was Bob and Bobbi Hereford of Missoula with 26.85lbs., 3rd Mike Benson with 24.5, 4th Roger and Gina Schiff of Whitefish 21.0, and 5th Larry Ashwell of Missoula 19.7. The third day of the Bucket of Fish competition will be Sunday November 5th.
Richard and Laurie have a combined total weight of sixty five pounds for eight lake trout under 30”. They are working hard and enjoying the competition.
Angler Laurie Kreis leads the Ladies Category with 123 lake trout entries, Bobbi Hereford is 2nd with 71, Gina Schiff 3rd with 62, Julie Woolley of Madesto, CA is 4th with 35, and tied at 5th is Brandy Hilde from Whitefish and Jeanee Mooney of Missoula with 26 each.
There is a race in the 70 and Over category between Larry Karper of Florence with 293 and Larry Ashwell of Missoula with 292, 3rd Bob Christensen of Missoula with 141, Dan Olsen of Helena is 4th with 45, and Jim Hoover of Whitefish 5th with 30.
The Top Ten Anglers are working hard to get their numbers in. Top ten are placed by their best fifteen days which a few are starting to reach. Mike Benson of Lonepine is leading with 836 lake trout entries and a 55.7 average, Terry Krogstad of Kalispell 2nd with 675 and 45.0. With fewer than fifteen days and no average are: Felix Gauci-Stevensville-3rd 549, Sam Cusker-Whitefish 4th 313, Larry Karper-293-5th, Larry Ashwell-292-6th, Richard Kreis-275-7th, Scott Bombard of Missoula is 8th with 233, John Gauci of Florence 9th with 175, George Thompson-Missoula 150-10th. There are 24 weekend days with the last day being separate so anglers have 23 days to turn in lake trout for their fifteen day average. The competition was designed so that an angler can miss days and still stay in the top ten if their average is high enough.
The $10,000 tagged lake trout is still out there. To catch that lake trout is every anglers dream. There are also three-$5,000, five $1,000 and over 6,000 with values from $500-$100. Turning in tagged lake trout the past week were: Terry Krogstad $100 X 3 and $200, Richard Kreis $100 X 2, Mike Benson $100 X 4, Tony Incashola of St. Ignatius $100, Bill Swaney-Missoula $100 X 2, Sam Cusker $100 and $200, and Tim Mooney of Missoula $100.
Methods used to catch the lake trout are varied. Anglers are jigging, casting, and trolling-changing with the area and the weather. If one method isn’t working they try another.
Entries continue to be taken until the last day of the event. For information on the event, entry, fish identification, etc. go to www.mackdays.com or telephone 406-270-3386.
