Youth angler records two lunkers in large fish contest
courtesy photo
Youth angler Danner Shima holds a 25.5-pound lake trout he landed during week six of the 2014 Spring Mack Days fishing event.
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Danner Shima, 14 of Kalispell, was fishing with his brother Austin and grandfather Mike Shima of Polson on April 11during the 2014 Spring Mack Days fishing event. Danner caught a fish and immediately knew it was a big one. Danner’s line began screaming as the big fish went to the bottom of the lake and Austin and Mike began giving advice. Austin told Danner this one is it and is going to be a winner. It took Danner 45 minutes to get the big guy in. Because a large lake trout entry has to be alive to be entered in the event, the Shima’s put the big fish in a large cooler with water and headed in to enter it. The large lake trout made the qualifying weight of 24 pounds exactly and measured in at 40 inches. Danner and his brother took the big fish down to the shore and released it back into the water, making sure it swam away into deeper water. Then in week six, Danner Shima turned in a second large fish entry in on Saturday April 19. It surpassed the weight of his first entry weighing in at 25.5 pounds and measuring 40.5 inches.
Big fish like the ones Danner caught are slow growing and can reach 30-40 years of age.
The large fish category closes on May 17. Winner of the large fish category receives $500. The last winner of a large fish was Danner’s father, Ryan Shima, who turned in a 24.5 pound, 42.5 inch lake trout in the 2012 Spring Event.
Smallest lake entries are still held by a 191mm 7.5” entry from Chris Demmons of Missoula and second place is a fish that measures 201mm 8” entered by Bob Stewart of Kalispell. Winners of the two smallest lake trout entries each receive $250.
Jason Mahlen of Kalispell widened his lead in week six with 928 entries, followed by Scott Bombard of Missoula with 737, Mike Benson with 706, Kevin Burns with 604, Steven Benson with 557, Terry Krogstad with 554, Jerry Benson with 516, Ryan Shima with 488, Robert Turner with 434, and in 10th place is Danny Smith 432.
Danner Shima is leading the 13-17 category with 358, followed by Garett Vaughan of Charlo with 226, then Roger Guillory with 189, Kobe Cox of Charlo with 139 and Keaton Turner with 82. Matthew Guckenberg Jr. of Kalispell is leading in the 12 and under category with 89, followed by Abby Hodgson of Kalispell, who has caught 47 lake trout.
Ladies category leader is Julie Vacca of Florence with 76, followed by Abby Hodgson with 47, Leanne Guillory with 27, Kim McMillie of Ronan with 21, and Mellissa Gilleard of Charlo with 15.
Larry Karper of Florence has a large lead in the 70 and over group with 303 followed by Conn Hodgson of Kalispell with 183, Roger Smart of Ronan with 80 is third, Jens Gran of Polson is in fourth with 24, Glenn Hoffman has 13.
A $500 tagged fish was turned in by Matt Guckenberg of Kalispell. Turning in $100 tagged fish were Larry Karper, Mike Benson, Doug Hodgson, Scott Bombard and Leanne Guillory. Every angler would like to find the $10,000 tagged lake trout, one of the two $5,000 tagged lake trout, or one of the five $1,000 tagged fish. Those fish plus more than 5,000 valued at $100-$500 are still out there.
Family, fun, and fishing-come out and join in. Fishing tips, maps, boat safety, weather, etc. can be found on the website along with lake trout fishing videos on trolling, jigging, and fishing from shore.
Sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks the Mack Days Fishing Event has up to $150,000 in cash and prizes that will be awarded at the conclusion of the event.
Mack Days are used as a tool to slowly reduce the numbers of non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake. Remember all it takes is one fish to win. Entries are taken until the last day of the event.
For more information, visit www.mackdays.com
