Anglers brave wind for Mack Days
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FLATHEAD LAKE — The 2015 Spring Mack Days Fishing Event moves on into the fifth week after a stormy, very windy, fourth weekend of lake trout fishing.
Friday was a great day for the anglers with 1,457 lake trout turned in. Three anglers—Ryan Shima, Jason Mahlen, and Danner Shima—all of Kalispell each turned in the same total of 71 fish after 12 hours of fishing. It would be hard to ever repeat that. Trying to get the same number of fish to turn in would be hard to do even if it was a carefully planned day with that total in mind to end the day with. Ryan and Danner were in the same boat but didn’t know totals until they checked in. Mahlen was in another boat by himself. Friday was a very lucky day for lady angler Debbie Pike who turned in a total of 12 lake trout entries. She was pleasantly surprised when two out of the 12 turned out to be $100 tagged lake trout.
What can you say about a howling windy Saturday with a fish total of 14? Safety first was on everyone’s mind. Wind gusts were predicted to be in the 35-45 mph range with wind direction changing as the day went on and 20 mph sustained winds. The prediction was close. The few anglers who did go out put in some difficult fishing time and received tickets that were hard fought for. Many anglers took the wind predictions seriously and stayed off the water. Sunday was still windy but the water was a little less rough. A few anglers ventured out into areas that were protected some from the wind and rough waters; 165 fish were turned in on Sunday bringing the weekend total to 1,636 fish and four week total to 10,760. Adding in the Tuesday-Thursday numbers brings it to 13,181 lake trout.
Ryan Shima continues to lead the anglers with 573 entries. In second place is Jason Mahlen with 554, and in third place is Danner Shima with 466. Fourth place is held by Steve Benson of Four Lakes, Washington. In fifth place is Scott Bombard of Missoula with 373. Six place is held by Felix Gauci of Stevensville with 365. Mike Benson of Lonepine is in seventh place with 347 entries. In eighth place is Larry Karper of Florence with 319 fish. Ninth place is held by Terry Krogstad of Kalispell with 309, and rounding out the top ten anglers is Mike Shima of Polson with 303 fish turned in.
Debbie Pike of Polson is first place in the ladies category with 101 entries. Second place is held by Julie Vacca of Florence, who has turned in 80 fish. In third place is Nicole Peters of Missoula with 61 entries. Jane Ramey of Florence has turned in 51 entries for fourth place, and the fifth spot is held by Abby Hodgson of Kalispell, who has turned in 45.
Danner Shima is first place in the age 13-17 group with 466 entries. Kobe Cox of Charlo is second place with 129 entries. Jade Smith of Charlo is in third place with 66 fish. Garrett Vaughan of Charlo is in forth place with 49, and Christopher Shae of Kalispell is in fifth place with 30.
Kalispell angler Matt Guckenberg is leading in the age 12 and under group with 55. Abby Hodgson of Kalispell is in second place with 45. Tripp Bick of Arlee is holding down third place with 21. Kieran Incashola of St. Ignatius and Karson Cox of Charlo are tied for fifth place with 9 each.
Larry Karper is first place in the age 70 and over category with 319 entries. Second place is held by Jim Hoover of Whitefish with 87. Third place is held by Ralph Johnson of Columbia Falls who has 72 entries. Fourth place is held by Jim Miller of Missoula with 43, and fifth place is held by Tom Shonholtzer who has 32 entries.
Anglers do have the option to fish Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to increase their bonus amounts. Tagged fish also count on those days. Entries are taken up until the last day of the event. Go to www.mackdays.com for information, fishing tips, fish ID, etc.
Mack Days are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.
