2024 Spring Mack Days_Week 4 Results
How to describe the anglers who put in the countless hours, dollars, sweat, and a
little bit of blood that are out on Flathead Lake fishing the Mack Days Fishing
Events! They are the best of the best when it comes to lake trout fishing, a sport
that they love. The Mack Days staff described them as relentless, resilient,
competitive, respectful, consistent, enthusiastic, and tough. Part of the lure of
fishing must be that every bite or hit on the line is a surprise-not knowing what is
on the line is part of the draw. Landing the fish is the next step-trying not to lose
the fish becomes part of the effort. Bigger isn’t always better in this event-unless
the lake trout is over 36” and 20 pounds which qualifies it for the Largest Lake
Trout Award. Big lunkers take time to bring up and they take up space in coolers
but as long as they are under 30 inches each one counts on the angler’s total.
These anglers love nature and all that it brings at them. Every angler is helping
in this fish conservation effort to reduce the lake trout numbers in Flathead Lake
and increase the numbers of native bull trout and westslope cutthroat. Fisheries
conservation efforts are not as visible in the public eye, as conservation efforts
with other animals such as the grizzly bear, wolves, spotted owls, etc. Out of
sight, out of mind, most people are not aware of them. But they are just as
important, they are an important part of the ecosystem of the lake and valley, part
of the culture of native tribes, and part of the future of the lake.
“Leto” the $10,000 tagged lake trout is lurking in the dark, deep, and cold depths
of the lake–waiting. There are 3-$5,000 lake trout, 6-$1,000 including one
sponsored by Bretz RV and Marine, and over 9,000 with values from $100-$500.
Come out and get your lines in the water-you could bring one of the tagged lake
trout in! Jason Mahlen turned in a $100 tagged lake trout on Sunday.
Total fish count at this time is at 17,272. Fridays total was 1,276, Saturday 803,
and Sunday 980. Cold rain and some wind hampered the anglers on Saturday. It
was rough going for them. Sunday was rain, wind, and snow in the morning but
by evening clearing skies and calm water. Out on the water the wind and the
cooler temps are more intense than if you are on shore.
Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes
Natural Resources Department
Division of Fish, Wildlife, Recreation & Conservation
P.O. Box 278
Pablo, MT 59855
(406) 675-2700 extension 7241
There is a three-way tie in the popular category for the Smallest Lake Trout at
this time. Kolton Turner, Jason Mahlen, and Gene Corne of Kalispell all have
turned in 166mm (6.5”) lake trout.
Kolton Turner of Kalispell is in the number one spot of the Top Twenty Angler
Category with 1,175-11 100 fish days, Bob Turner-Kalispell-is in 2 nd with 1042-6
100 fish days, Jason Mahlen of Kalispell is 3 rd with 938-entries-7 100 fish days, 4 th
Clint Speer-Kalispell 657, 5 th Jerry Benson-Plains 604, 6 th Ken Varga-Kalispell
581, 7 th Gene Corne-Kalispell 561, 8 th Michael Benson-Lonepine 524, 9 th Tyler
Varga-Kalispell 514, 10 th Jake North-Denton 455, 11 th Travis Banyai of Lakeside
428, 12 th Bryan Long-Kalispell 421, 13 th Larry Ashwell-Missoula 383, 14 th Larry
Ludahl-Kalispell 375, 15 th David Kelch-Kalispell 348, 16 th David McDaniel-Polson
329, 17 th Dan Deuschman-Missoula 322, 18 th Felix Gauci-Stevensville 307, 19 th
Nate Dieterich-Kalispell 307, 20 th Jack Kirkland-Lolo 282.
Leading the Ladies is angler Julie Perkins of Kalispell with 92, 2 nd Corrine
McCubbins of Kalispell with 69, 3 rd Shirley Batz of Kalispell 46, 4 th Melissa Triano
of Bigfork 24, and 5 th Janine Kowalski of Frenchtown 17.
Brodie Smith of Kalispell has 268 for 1 st in the 13-17 Category, 2 nd Kennedy Yang
of Missoula with 31, 3 rd Lane Brazda of Missoula with 14, Matthew Mitts of
Kalispell has 12, and Lucia Savoia of Missoula has 1. The 12 & Under Category
leader is Eli Yang of Missoula with 31, 2 nd Mason Cusker of Bigfork with 4, Gage
Spring of Alberton 3, and James Kuchera of Kalispell has 2.
Michael Benson is leading the 70 & Over with 524, 2 nd Larry Ashwell-383, 3 rd Felix
Gauci-307, 4 th Jack Kirkland-282, and 5 th Terry Krogstad of Kalispell-235.
Weekend winners were: $200-Michael Benson & $100-Terry Krogstad, Michael
Benson, Bryan Long, and Tristan Persico of Missoula.
Mack Days Fishing Events are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes and are used as a management tool to reduce the non-native
lake trout. The event is sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. The
CSKT Tribe sponsors Up To $225,000 in Cash and Prizes that will be awarded at
the conclusion of the event. Entries continue to be taken until the last day of the
event on May 11th. There is no entry fee. Categories include Top Twenty Angler
prizes, Ladies, Youth, Captains, Smallest Fish, Largest Fish-sponsored by Bretz
RV and Marine of Missoula, Lottery Drawings, etc. All it takes is one fish to win,
as your total number of lake trout entries goes up you receive bonus dollars to
help with the cost of participating. We apologize that our website is under
reconstruction, please contact Cindy Benson at (406) 270-3386 or
cindy.benson@cskt.org to get signed up!
Good luck and tight lines everyone!