Spring Mack Days final results reported
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FLATHEAD LAKE — The 2021 Spring Mack Days fishing event concluded with a total of 27,547 lake trout entries. Nine weeks of lake trout fishing with a total of 800 anglers entered. Two hundred twenty-eight anglers turned in one or more lake trout entries and qualified for the prize drawings.
Annual Mack Days fishing events are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. There were up to $225,000 in cash and prizes available during the event that anglers were competing for.
The lake trout became very tight lipped by the end of the last weekend. The total for the last weekend was 1,597. The Friday count was at 732. The Saturday count was at 563, and the Sunday count was at 302. Anglers reported seeing fish on their fish finders but the fish weren’t looking to bite just any lure.
After nine weeks of lake trout fishing, Kalispell angler Kolton Turner was the top angler with a total of 1,856 lake trout, and he had an 18-day average of 87.67. Second place went to Jason Mahlen, of Kalispell, with 1,701 and 83.11 average. Third place went to Bob Turner, of Kalispell, with 1,447-70.67. Sam Cusker, of Bigfork, was fourth with 780-42.67. Mike Benson, of Lonepine, was fifth with 902-41.83.
Sixth place went to Steve Benson, of Spokane Valley, with 848-41.22. Larry Karper, of Florence, was seventh with 767-39.5. Ken Varga, of Kalispell, was eighth with 753-38.3. Ninth place went to Travis Banyai, of Kalispell, with 710-37.06. Scott Bombard, of Missoula, was 10th with 730-35.72.
Julie Perkins, of Kalispell, won the ladies category with 302 lake trout entries. Connie Jones, of Kalispell, was second with 74. Nicole Peters, of Missoula, came in third with 51. Lisa Cloo, of Clinton, was fourth with 39, and Laurie Kreis, of Huson, was fifth with 36.
Jack Kirkland wone the 70 and over category with 557 lake trout entries, and Larry Ashwell, of Missoula, was second with 416. Winning the two drawings in the category were Jack Kirkland and Marty Herak.
Matt Guckenberg, Jr., of Kalispell, was first in the 13-17 category with 269 lake trout entries. Second was Josey McIlhargey, Jr., of Kalispell, with 36. Abby Hodgson, of Kalispell, was third with 26. Colton Spacht, of Culbertson, was fourth with 13, and Bryce Harvey, of Kalispell, was fifth with 10 entries.
Brodie Smith, of Kalispell, won the 12 and under category with 211 entries. Wyatt Best, of Florence, was second with seven. Tripp Bick, of Arlee; Henry Phan, of Kalispell; and Bridgett Reed, of Kalispell, tied with five entries each for third place.
The Spirit of the Event award goes to Jason and Scott Mahlen. The Mahlen family lost Scott during the event due to illness. His pole was in the boat with Jason the next day.
Thank you to everyone who helps to make the events a success. Tight lines all summer anglers. See you in the fall. Fall Mack Days on Flathead Lake will begin Sept. 17 and end Nov. 14. For more information, please visit www.mackdays.com.
