2009 Spring Mack Days
More than $45,000 in cash and prizes
It's time to begin thinking about your Spring Mack Days fishing strategies. The event on Flathead Lake will begin March 13th and end April 26th and will again be held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Mack Days Events are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and is sanctioned by Montana FW&Parks. The fishing events are designed by fisheries managers to be used as a tool to gradually decrease the non-native lake trout population and restore the balance in the fishery of Flathead Lake by increasing the native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout numbers.
One fish is all it takes to win one of the cash lottery prizes. The lottery drawing will feature 25 cash awards from $1,000-$200. Total cash awards given in all the different categories will be over $20,000. The top angler category will include awards for the top new- 10 anglers ($650-$200). The best 12 day totals of the 21 day event will determine the top anglers. We will have a "Ladies Only" category with prizes of $300-1st, $200 & $100-drawing. Ladies qualify by entering 20 or more lake trout. The largest live lake trout over 36" & 24#'s will win $500-1st & $100-2nd and the popular smallest lake trout will have (2) $250 prizes. The four "Captains Prizes" will be $250 each. Anglers will win cash in the bonuses, and tagged fish categories also. There are over 1000 lake trout with tags worth $100-$5,000. During 2008 Fall Mack Days a total of 23 tagged lake trout were turned in with values from $100-$500. As you bring in your lake trout, they will be scanned for an internal tag. These tags are not visible; they are inserted into the muscle of the fish. The adipose fin on these fish has been clipped. If you catch a fish with a fin clip it will be helpful if you rubber band or use an electrical tie to mark it. Do not remove any tag before turning in a tagged fish. Be aware that anglers will sometimes mark fish if they are jigging in the same spot all day, so not every marked fish has a tag. $10,000-$30,000 in bonus payouts will be given to anglers with the amount depending on the total harvest. Everyone entering 20 or more lake trout under 30" in the event wins. (0-19 lake trout=$0, 20-30=$25, 31-60=$45, 61-100=$90, 101-150=$145, 151-200=$190, 201-250=$245, 251-300=$300, 301-350=$350, 351-400=$410, 401-450=$460, 451-500=$520, 501-550=$570 & on up)
April 26th will be the last day of the event. All lake trout caught on Sunday April 26th are to be turned in at Salish Point in Polson-behind the Kwataqnuk Resort- between 9:00 and 4:00. Pick up times on all other event days are Blue Bay-all day, Somers-7:00 p.m. only, Polson (Salish Pt.)-7:00 p.m. only. The largest lake trout category ends on Saturday April 25th. The last day will be a totally separate day for the drawing but will count for top angler, bonuses, and tagged fish. You will qualify for four prizes of $300, $200, $50, & $50 plus the heaviest fish under 30" wins $200 and second will be for $100. The lake-side fish fry will be held at Salish Point in Polson and begin at 4:00 and awards will start at 5:00. No entries will be taken after 4:00. Anglers are reminded that it is illegal to target or harvest bull trout or to harvest westslope cutthroat trout in Flathead Lake. Please be sure to know how to identify these fish. Contact us for information about identification and releasing of these fish.
For more information or to be placed on our mailing list you can reach us at 883-2888-Cindy Bras-Benson ex. 7294 or Barry Hansen ex. 7282-or visit our website at www.mackdays.com for rules, fishing tips, boat safety, etc.
We remind everyone to think safety first and to be aware of weather conditions at all times. During the event our telephone number at Blue Bay is 406-982-3142 or cell 406-270-3386.
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Montana Outdoor Radio Show
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