Larry Ashwell of Missoula continues to lead the 2022 Fall Mack Days anglers on Flathead Lake with a total of 509 lake trout entries. His biggest day of fishing was the first day entry of 93 lake trout. Third weekend totals were 59 on Friday, 35 on Saturday, and 48 on Sunday.
Felix Gauci of Stevensville had a huge day on Friday with a perfect 100-day total by late afternoon. His Saturday entries were 58 and 82 on Sunday. Felix has a total of 482 lake trout entries for 2nd place. Mike Benson of Lonepine is in 3rd place with 390 entries, 4th place is Scott Bombard of Missoula with 321 entries, 5th place is Terry Krogstad of Kalispell with 313 entries, 6th place is Sam Cusker of Bigfork with 309 entries, 7th place Larry Karper of Florence with 293 entries, 8th place is Julie Perkins of Kalispell with 242 entries, 9th place is Jerry Benson of Plains with 220 entries, and in 10th place is John Gauci of Florence with 197 lake trout entries.
There is Up to $200,000 in Cash and Prizes that will be awarded at the conclusion of the nine-week long Fishing Event on Flathead Lake. Mack Days are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. The events are used as a tool to reduce the non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake. Every lake trout entry gives the anglers a chance to win in the lottery drawings at the end of the event. The drawings begin at $2,000 and go to $100. Bonus dollar amounts for anglers go up as the angler’s totals go up. Bonus amount for 11-30-$45, 31-50-$88, and on up. Check out the chart on the website at www.mackdays.com. We remind everyone you don’t have to have a lot of entries to be in winner. One fish is all it takes!
Lady angler Julie Perkins of Kalispell is in first place in the Ladies Category with 242 entries, 2nd place is Laurie Kreis of Huson with 150 entries, 3rd place is Kim Mack of Helena with 91 entries, 4th place is Janet Myers of Riverton Wy with 43 entries, and 5th Debby Sacci of Thompson Falls with 28.
Over 70 Category leader is Larry Ashwell with 509 entries, 2nd place is Felix Gauci with 482 entries, 3rd place is Mike Benson with 390 entries, 4th place is Larry Karper with 293 entries, and 5th place is John Gauci with 197 entries.
Marcus Lucas of Polson is still first in the 13-17 group and Shelbie Petersen of Columbia Falls has one entry. William Grob of Missoula leads the 12 & Under with 6 and Terrace Dieterich of Kalispell has one entry. A total of 6,806 lake trout have been entered in the event. Fridays total was 816, Saturday-507, and Sunday 847. Saturday the water on the lake was rough on the anglers with many reporting pretty big rollers out there.
Weekend drawing winners: Ken Rickert of Thompson Falls for $200 and $100 winners were-Jack Kirkland of Lolo, Mark McMillin of Missoula, Marty Herak of Polson, and Paul Groves of Wyoming, IL.
Mark McMillin turned in a small 155mm (6.2”) lake trout to take the lead in the Smallest Lake Trout category and Sam Cusker turned in a 158mm laker for the second place. Sam said that made up for a not so good day for entries Saturday.
The first of the Buckets Days was on Friday. Heaviest bucket was Jens Gran of Polson with 30.45, 2nd Rick Skates of Polson with 29.1, 3rd Krogstad and Perkins with 25.9, 4th Richard and Laurie Kreis with 17.15, and a tie between the Mack’s of Helena and the Jones boat of Kalispell with 17.0.
The $10,000 tagged lake trout “Bella” is still out there, she could be on your line. Come out and try your luck catching her. Turning in tagged lake trout were: Kim Mack of Helena-$200, Ken Rickert of Thompson Falls-$100, and Terry Krogstad of Kalispell $100 X 2.
The weather is holding at least for the next week. The events are successful because of the dedication and hard work put in by the anglers. Come out and participate to help increase the native fish populations in Flathead Lake. Make a difference!
For more information please go to the website at www.mackdays.com or call us at (406) 675-2700 ex 7294 or (406) 270-3386. The website has rules, fishing tips with videos, along with fish ID, map, weather information, and safety information. We look forward to a successful fishing contest with many happy anglers!
Tight lines everyone!
-cskt-
