Spring Mack Days nearing end

With 10 days left in the 2017 Spring Mack Days fishing derby, Danner Shima of Kalispell has been unstoppable and is leading the top ten anglers with 1,292 entries. In second place is Ryan Shima with 1,135. Jason Mahlen of Kalispell has moved up to third place and has a total of 1,107. Mike Benson of Lonepine is fourth with 1,065. Steven Benson of Four Lakes, Wash., is fifth with 1,031. Felix Gauci of Stevensville is sixth with 930. Scott Bombard of Missoula is sixth with 886. In eighth is David McDaniel of Polson with 876. Sam Cusker of Whitefish is ninth with 867. Terry Krogstad of Kalispell is 10th with 758 fish. Placing is done by the best 18-day average on the last day of the event. With just the five days of the weekend competition left these anglers will be fishing as hard as they can to keep their positions or to move up in the standings.

Two hundred anglers have turned in a total of 29,195 lake trout entries during the event. Totals for the seventh weekend came to 3,975, with Friday’s total of 1,737 being the second highest day of the event.

Larry Karper of Florence is the leading “Golden Angler” category with 661 fish. In second place is Bob Christensen of Missoula with 318. Gary Perleberg of Bigfork is third with 107. In fourth place is Bill Violette of Missoula with 52. In fifth place is Ralph Johnson of Columbia Falls with 50.

Julie Vacca of Florence holds onto her lead in the Ladies Category with 275 entries. The ladies are in a tight competition for second, third and fourth. Brandy Hilde of Whitefish has 137, Janine Kowalski of Missoula is in at 135, and Connie Jones of Kalispell has 134. There is also a tight race for fifth and sixth with Julie Woolley from California with 101, and Nicole Peters of Missoula with 100. Good luck ladies over the next five weekend days of the competition.

Youth Category leaders are Tyler Varga of Kalispell in the 13-19 group with 437. Leah Banyai of Kalispell has 91 and Abby Hodgson of Kalispell has 75. Matt Guckenberg Jr. of Kalispell is leading in the 12 and younger group with 77. Rylan Koch of Butte has 33, and Kayne Kirwan Polson has 18.

The $10,000 tagged lake trout is still out there. There are also three $5,000-fish, four $1,000-fish and over 6000 tagged lake trout with values ranging from $100-$500.

There is still no entry in the largest lake trout category. A $500 award goes to the largest lake trout measuring at least 36 inches and weighing 24 pounds or more.

The third day of the Heaviest Bucket of Fish Competition will be Sunday May 7.

Entries continue to be taken until the last day. of the event. There is no entry fee.