Mack Days ends with third highest totals ever
A total of 469 anglers registered for the 2016 Fall Mack Days fishing event, turning in 17,527 lake trout entries in 45 days of fishing. This year’s derby ranked third highest for a fall tournament since the competition started in 2002.
Kalispell angler Terry Krogstad took home Top Angler honors with a total of 1,341 entries and a 15-day average of 72.9 fish, breaking his previous record. Krogstad is now a three-time champion of the fall event.
“He has become king of the fall,” Barry Hansen, a fisheries biologist with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said during the awards ceremony on Sunday. “The numbers this year were just incredible.”
Mike Benson of Lonepine was second with a 65.6-fish average and 1,292 entries. Benson was former winner in the 2014 fall event with a 45.8 average and 1,037 entries. His previous best average of a fall event was in 2010, winning that derby with a 48.7-fish average and 915 entries.
Benson reached a milestone this year as well, exceeding 20,000 lake trout caught during his Mack Days career.
“Unfortunately we don’t have a prize for that,” Hansen said, “but if we did, you would get it Mike.”
Felix Gauci of Stevensville was third with 777 fish and a 44.8 average. In fourth place was Larry Karper of Florence with 648 and a 39 fish average. Sam Cusker of Whitefish was fifth with 597 and 35.6. Larry Ashwell of Missoula was sixth with 533 and 32.9. Scott Bombard of Missoula was seventh with 607 and 32.8. Bob Stewart of Kalispell was eighth with 454 and 28.3. Richard Kreis of Huson was ninth with 510 and 27.8. In 10th place was a tie between Danny Smith and Greg Karlson each with a 20.07-fish average.
Laurie Kries of Huson turned in 190 entries to win the Ladies Category. Brandy Hilde of Whitefish was second with 142. Jeanee Mooney of Missoula took third with 127 fish. Gina Schiff of Whitefish was fourth with 82 and Deb Amdahl of Kalispell was fifth with 53.
Tyler Varga of Kalispell won the 13 to 17-year-old category with 53 fish. Danner Shima of Kalispell took second with 12. Carson McDaniel of Polson was third with nine fish. Justin Line of Missoula was fourth with eight fish and Ayden Tripp of Missoula was fifth with one.
Winning the 12 and younger category was Dawson Adley of Pablo with 10 fish. Matt Kreis of Huson was second with eight. Hayden Hall of Missoula took third with three.
Golden Angler Larry Karper with 648 entries placed in the Top Ten, which disqualified him from winning a cash award in the 70 and older category. Winning first was Bob Christensen of Missoula with 240. Second place went to Glenn Hoffman of Missoula with 175. Bear Malatare of Arlee won a third-place drawing and Gail Parsons of Kalispell won a fourth-place drawing.
David Kanniainen of Lolo won one of the two smallest fish prizes with a 153-mm lake trout and Randy Collins of Kalispell also won with a 163-mm fish.
Randy Hovet of Charlo and Bobbi Hereford of Missoula each won custom made knives by Bob Crowder of Thompson Falls in the Spirit of the Event competition.
Powell Rods sponsored special rods for the overall numbers of lake trout caught by a male and female angler, Tuesday through Sunday. Winning those rods were Mike Benson with 2,111 and Laurie Kries with 190.
Top winners in the lottery drawings were John Malatare of Arlee, Larry Ashwell, Felix Gauci, George Thompson of Missoula, Jeanee Mooney and Sam Cusker. For a full list of the 27 cash winners go to www.mackdays.com.
A total of 93 tagged fish were turned in during the event with values from ranging from $100-$500. The 2016 top value fish will be revalued for the 2017 spring event, and new high dollar tagged fish will be tagged before that event begins on March 17. Mack Days Spring 2017 will end May 14.
Mack Days is made a success by the hard work, dedication and commitment of every angler who fishes the event. They are out on the lake every day of the event on the sunny nice days, rainy days and windy rough-water days. They are who bring in the numbers of fish with hours and hours of fishing on Flathead Lake as their workplace. Thank you to all of them for the success of the event that is sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to reduce the non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake.