Fall Mack Days ends with 14,036 total lake trout entries
courtesy photo
Pictured from left are top Fall Mack Days anglers Jack Kirkland, Larry Ashwell, Terry Krogstad, Julie Perkins, Mike Benson and Scott Bombard. Top anglers not pictured are Richard Kreis, Sam Cusker and Felix Gauci.
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News from CSKT Natural Resources
FLATHEAD LAKE — The 2021 Fall Mack Days Fishing Event on Flathead Lake concluded with a total of 14,036 lake trout entries. There was a total of nine weeks of lake trout fishing with a total of 445 anglers entered. One hundred twenty-eight anglers turned in one or more lake trout entries and qualified for the prize drawings with at least one entry.
Annual Mack Days Fishing Events are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Anglers competed for up to $200,000 in cash and prizes. The last weekend of the event was plagued by cold, wind, rough water, and rain. The total for the last weekend was 878 with Friday’s count of 342, Saturday counts of 400, and Sunday’s count of 136 lake trout entries.
After nine weeks of lake trout fishing, Lonepine angler Mike Benson was the top angler with a total of 1,068 lake trout entries. Mike had an 18-day average of 52.89. He fished 26 days of the 27 total weekend fishing days. Second place was Felix Gauci of Stevensville with 902 entries and a 49.94 average and 19 fishing days, third place was Larry Karper of Florence with 751 entries a 37.56 average and 25 fishing days, fourth place was Sam Cusker of Bigfork with 600 entries and 32.5 average with 23 fishing days, fifth place was Jack Kirkland of Missoula with 631 entries and a 31.78 average, with 24 fishing days, sixth place was Terry Krogstad of Kalispell with a 675 average and 31.61 average with 27 fishing days, seventh place was Julie Perkins of Kalispell with 669 entries and 30.94 average with 27 fishing days, eighth place was Scott Bombard of Missoula with 640 entries and 30.83 average and 26 fishing days, ninth place was Larry Ashwell of Missoula with 564 entries and 28 average and 24 fishing days, 10th places was Richard Kreis of Huson with 557 entries and 26.89 average with 25 fishing days.
Laurie Kreis was the ladies winner with 352 lake trout entries, second place was Kim Mack of Helena with 102 entries, third place was Gina Schiff of Whitefish with 76 entries, fourth place was Nicole Peters of Missoula with 55 entries, and fifth place was Debby Sacchi of Thompson Falls with 51 entries.
John Gauci of Florence won the 70 and over category with 524 lake trout entries and Paul Grove of Wyoming, Illinois, was second with 101 entries. Winning the two drawings in the category were Larry Ashwell and Bernie Olsen.
There was a tie in the 13-17 category with 9 lake trout entries each: Alison Putzler of Kalispell and Blake Williams of Big Arm, and Ashlin Peters of Polson is third with two entries. Wyatt Best of Florence won the 12 and under with five entries and second is Brynn Blowers of Missoula with three.
Siberian Cooler winners were Laurie Kreis, Mike Benson and Kim Mack of Helena. Weekend 9 winners were: Julie Perkins - $200, Sam Cusker X 2, Nicole Peters, and Larry Karper - $100 winners. Mark McMillin of Missoula won the Spirit of the Event Award.
A list of lottery winners is on the website www.mackdays.com on the stats page. Click on the awards tab at the top of the page.
A big thank you to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who sponsor these events to help the native trout species in Flathead Lake. The lake trout anglers in these events are an awesome group of men, ladies, and a few young up and coming anglers. They make the events successful. See you in March for the 2022 Spring Mack Days event.
