Anglers fishing the 2019 Spring Mack Days Fishing Event have completed the second weekend with a total of 7,926 lake trout entered. Even with this year’s event being delayed by ice and snow the first two-week fish total is only 321 lake trout behind the 2018 first two-weekend fish total.
Totals for the second weekend of this year’s event were; Friday-1,639, Saturday-1,622, and Sunday-1,578. Leading the Top Ten Anglers by only four fish is Mike Benson of Lonepine with 449, turning in four perfect one hundred days in a row. Kolton Turner of Kalispell has three one hundred fish days, for a total of 445 fish. Jason Mahlen of Kalispell is only twenty-five fish behind the leader with a total of 424 fish and two one hundred fish days. Third place is David McDaniel of Polson with 361 fish, with a one hundred fish day. Bob Turner of Kalispell is 4th, with 300 fish. Jerry Benson of Plains is 5th, with 295 fish. Tyler Varga of Kalispell is 6th with 261 fish. Ken Varga, is 7th with 250 fish. Scott Bombard of Missoula is 9th with 242 fish and Scott Mahlen of Kalispell is 10th, with 221 fish. Top ten anglers have seven weekends left to increase their numbers and averages. Anglers will be ranked on their best 15-day average instead of the usual 18-day average for the longer Spring Events. It is anticipated that the event winner will have their work cut out for them to win first in the Top Ten.
Boat ramps open on Flathead Lake at this time are Blue Bay, Yellow Bay, Wayfarers, and Westshore. Again, we would like to thank the three anglers, Tom Kemppainen along with Turners, who cut through the ice at Yellow Bay on the first day of the event, your hard work was appreciated!
2019 Spring Mack Days began March 22nd with Up to $225,000 in Cash and Prizes sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks that will be awarded on the last day of the event which is May 19th. This event will be nine weeks of lake trout fishing on all of Flathead Lake. There are several ways to win awards in the event. Go to www.mackdays.com to check out all of the information. Click on the events tab for rules, bonus amounts, fish ID, entry, etc. Mack Days are a tool used to reduce non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake and increase the numbers of native bull trout and westslope cutthroat.
(Feature photo via Mack Days)
