2015 Spring Mack Days second week
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Spring Mack Days sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks began March 20 and will end on May 17. The event has up to $225,000 in cash and prizes that will be awarded to hard-working anglers at the conclusion of the fishing event that is used as a tool to reduce the non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake. Enter at any time until the last day of the event. All it takes is one lake trout entry to qualify for the lottery and merchandise drawings. Go to www.mackdays.com for complete information.
165 lake trout anglers out of the 600 entered have turned in more than 6,000 fish by the end of the second week of the event. The total catch after nine days of fishing is 6,986. Many anglers are putting in long hard days of up to 12.5 hours of fishing in all kinds of weather. Friday’s lake trout total was 1,175. Wind took a toll on Saturday. Winds gusts were expected to get up to 40-50 miles per hour on Saturday. A total of 68 fish were still turned in and Sundays total was 1,061. Leading the top ten angler category in the Mack Days Event is Kalispell angler Ryan Shima with 310 entries. Danner Shima, Ryan’s son leads the age 13-17 category with 228; Mike Shima, Polson, Ryan’s father, sits in thirteenth place with 164. Danner's brother Austin turned in 18 fish during his first day out during this event on Sunday. Steven Benson of Four Lakes, WA is second place with 302. Another Kalispell angler and former winner of the event Jason Mahlen has entered a total of 263 lake trout entries. Larry Karper of Florence sits fifth in the top ten and leads the age 70 and over category with 212. Danny Smith a Hot Springs angler is sixth place with 210, Mike Benson of Lonepine is in seventh place with 205. John Gauci of Florence and Felix Gauci of Stevensville are tied for eighth and ninth place with 198, and Scott Bombard of Missoula is in tenth place with 193.
Anglers can also fish Tuesday-Thursday. Those fish are added to the bonus dollars and tagged fish count for those days. You can see those results on the Mack Days website.
Two ladies are tied for first place in their category. Debbie Pike of Polson and Julie Vacca of Florence each have 53 entries. In third place is Nicole Peters of Missoula with 37. Jane Ramey of Florence is in fourth place with 23. And fifth place is held by Susanne Albrecht of Polson with 16.
Matthew Guckenberg of Kalispell is first in the age 12 and under group with 20 entries. Tripp Bick of Arlee is in second place with 17, Abby Hodgson of Kalispell is in third place with 15. Kieran Incashola of St. Ignatius and Karson Cox of Charlo each have 9 entries turned in.
Behind Danner in the age13-17 category are Kobe Cox of Charlo with 94 entries, and Jade Smith of Charlo with 43. Dylan Hodgson and Austin Shima, both of Kalispell, each have 18.
Fish can be turned in at Blue Bay every day except Monday. There are also fish pickups at Big Arm, Salish Point, Wayfarers, and Somers. Check the website for the times.
Anglers may keep their catch or donate it. Tribal fish fillet staff expertly fillet the fish and it is then delivered to area food banks.
Jigging is the most popular way to catch the lake trout. Anglers are jigging in water from 180 feet to 240 feet deep. Use cut bait with the jig. Anchoring right over the fish keeping as stable as possible seems to work the best. Trollers are having success also, but are not catching as high numbers as jiggers. Use a map that shows contours and depths of the lake to find areas to try fishing for the lake trout. There is a lot of information on the website for fishing Flathead Lake. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have produced fishing videos and maps that are available from the Natural Resources Department offices. Telephone (406) 675-2700, extension 7200 or extension 7282 for information.
