Mack Days fish entries top 5,000
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
Fall Mack Days continues until Nov. 11, with up to $125,000 in cash and prizes available to lake trout anglers. All it takes is one fish to win in the lottery style drawing that starts at $1,000 and goes to $200. Fifty cash prizes will be drawn plus many merchandise prizes. There is no entry fee, and entries continue to be taken up until the last day of the event. Fish on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through Oct. 28, and from Nov. 2-11, it’s 10 continuous days of lake trout fishing on Flathead Lake. Mack Days is sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Tagged fish with values from $10,000 (one); $5,000 (five); $1,000 (10); and more than 4,000 from $500 to $100 are also a part of Mack Days fishing events. After 12 days of fishing, there was $6,300 in tagged fish turned in. Turning in $100 tags the fourth weekend were Jim Hoover, Whitefish; Scott Bombard, Missoula, with three; Deana Knipe, Polson; Craig Morigeau, Polson; Chad Cottet, Polson; Richard Kreis, Huson; Brian Gregerson, Kalispell; and Reed Blackburn, Kalispell. $200 tags were turned in by Max Martz, Stevensville, and Brian Casman, Kalispell.
Bonus amounts are paid to anglers who enter 20 or more lake trout in the event. Amounts go up with the total entries an angler has at the conclusion of the event. Go to www.mackdays.com for information on the bonus amounts.
Prize categories include top angler prizes for the top 10 anglers, ladies prizes, youth, captains, weekend and over 70. New to this year’s event is the heaviest bucket of fish. An angler or a team of anglers from one boat mark their four heaviest fish. When they enter the fish, those four are put in a bucket and a weight is taken. Points are given for the top five places. Top winner of the day receives $200.
The team of Roger Schiff and Kirby Adams, Whitefish, holds first place with 19 pounds, 15 ounces. Second place is Phil Meredith and Nick Fister, Kalispell, with 19 pounds, and third place is John Gauci, Florence, and Felix Gauci, Stevensville, with 18 pounds, 10 ounces. Max Martz is fourth with 17 pounds, 11 ounces, and fifth place is held by Dan Smith and Ralph Johnson of Columbia Falls and Jim Hoover, Whitefish. The third and last day of this event will be Nov. 4. There is no large fish entry in the event so far. Smallest lake trout entries still are held by Mike Benson, Lonepine, and Tyson Cottet, Charlo.
The top angler race in the 2012 Fall Mack Days fishing event warmed up over the fourth weekend of the lake trout fishing event. Angler Max Martz, Stevensville, moved into the lead with a total of 450 after entering 70 lake trout entries on Friday, 51 on Saturday and 23 on Sunday. Mike Benson, Lonepine angler, moved to second place with his total of 440 and entries of 28 on Friday and 34 on Saturday. Third-place angler Scott Bombard, Missoula, posted entries of 46, 34 and 43 and a total of 436. Steve Benson, Four Lakes, Wash., holds fourth with 51, 42, 33 and a total of 420. Fifth-place Craig Morigeau, Polson, has 268; sixth, Phil Merideth, Kalispell, 239; seventh, Don Beville, Lakeside, 216; eighth, Chad Cottet, Polson, 175; ninth, Alvin Haase, Corvallis, 173; and 10th, Larry Karper, Florence, 171. Anglers may enter up to 100 lake trout a day under 30 inches or 99 under 30 inches and one over 36 inches.
Sharon Beville, Kalispell, made a move on Saturday with 17 entries, taking over the top lady angler spot with 44. Second is Kim McMillie-Ronan, 34; third Julie Vacca, Florence, 30; Suanne Albrecht, Polson, 24, fourth, and fifth place, Deana Knipe, Polson, 22.
Eric Sams, Polson, leads the 13-17 group with 36, and Mark Herzog, Missoula, 12 and under, has six entries.
The total for the fall event is 5,607. Wind and rain hampered the anglers especially on Sunday, but they still turned in 1,350 for the weekend.
Check out the website www.mackdays.com for fishing information, bull trout identification, recipes, etc. or telephone 406-883-2888 ex. 7294.
