Fall Mack Days are under way

The 2020 Fall Mack Days fishing event, sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, kicked off Sept. 8 at Flathead Lake, and the one and only tagged fish worth $10,000 remains somewhere in the lake awaiting one lucky angler.

Up to $200,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the event, which runs through Nov. 15.

Anglers turned in 707 lake trout entries, the first Tuesday-Thursday of the event.

Participants can choose to compete one day, several days or every day. Every lake trout entry counts for an individual’s bonus amount after the 11th fish is turned in. Bonus amounts go up with the fish total.

Apart from the $10,000 fish, there are also three $5,000 tagged lake trout, five $1,000 lake trout, and over 9,000 with values from $500 to $100 waiting for the right lure. Tagged lake trout with $100 values were turned in the first week by anglers Tom Borr and Jeffrey Freeman of Polson, Felix Gauci of Stevensville, Mike Cosby of Thompson Falls, and Kenny Garrett and Valerie Seman of Missoula.

A total of 3,366 lake trout entries were received over the first week.

As of Monday, Mike Benson of Lonepine leads all anglers with 215 fish. Kolton Turner of Kalispell is in second place with 208, and Steve Benson of Spokane Valley, Wash., rounds out the top 3 with 171.

Right behind them are: Bob Turner, Kalispell (168); Scott Bombard, Missoula (152); Sam Cusker, Bigfork (142); Larry Ashwell, Missoula (139); Shannon Brownlee, Missoula (109); John Gauci, Florence (99); and Terry Krogstad, Kalispell (91).

Kolton Turner of Kalispell turned in the first and only 100-fish day on Saturday.

Julie Perkins of Kalispell has 83 to lead the ladies. Laurie Kreis of Huson has 36, Kim McMillie of Polson 26, Lorinda Freeman of Polson 26, and Valerie Seman of Missoula 14.

The 70 and Over leader is Larry Ashwell of Missoula with 139. Second place is John Gauci of Florence with 99, and third place is Larry Karper of Florence with 51.

The weekend drawing results will be done later in the week and posted to the website. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have opened the Blue Bay Boat Ramp and Salish Point to all anglers. For more information go to www.mackdays.com, click on the events tab for the drop-down boxes, or call (406) 270-3386.