Spring Mack Days: Anglers battle ice

Dozens of fishing lines were dropped to the bottom of Flathead Lake by anglers who were unafraid of the cold waters as the 2023 Spring Mack Days Fishing Event got underway March 16.

Sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the fishing event continues through May 13 this season.

Anglers were dodging ice chunks in the lake as they made their way to their favorite fishing spots.

“It was reminiscent of 2019 spring Mack Days event, when all of the shallow bays on the lake were iced over and the event had to be delayed a week until anglers made a path through the ice out of Yellow Bay to open waters,” says Stephanie Gillin, CSKT Information and Education Program manager.

Sunday, anglers reported breaking ice from Yellow Bay to Rocky Point. Big Arm Bay, Polson Bay and Somers Bay were still iced in. Sitting in the dark, anglers reported hearing the ice make crackling and popping sounds as they waited for daylight and hopefully some sunshine.

Anglers are using Blue Bay, Yellow Bay, Wayfarers, and Westshore boat ramps at this time.

Despite the obstacles, on Thursday, the first day of the event, 984 fish entries were turned in. During the sunny but bone chilling first weekend, a total of 4,295 lake trout were entered, for a grand total of 5,279 fish entries.

Five anglers hit the perfect 100: Mike Benson, Scott Bombard, Bob Turner, Kolton Turner, and Jerry Benson.

The 2019 spring event holds the record of the most lake trout entries at 40,362, even with the ice issues. The total for the first weekend of the 2019 was 2,052 fish entries.

There are currently 433 anglers entered in this year’s Spring Mack Days, with 107 turning in one or more lake trout entries as of Monday.

Leading the Top Ten Anglers is Jason Mahlen of Kalispell with a perfect three-day weekend of 300 lake trout entries. Kolton Turner of Kalispell is in second with 298 fish entries, and Sam Cusker of Bigfork is third with 227 entries.

Leah Banyai of Lakeside is leading the Ladies Category with 52 entries and Connie Jones from Kalispell is second with nine lake trout entries. Wyatt Best of Florence is first in the 13-17 age group with three entries; and Brodie Smith from Kalispell is first in the 12 & Under with 18 entries.

Terry Krogstad of Kalispell leads the 70 and Over category with 171 entries; Mike Benson of Lonepine is second with 135 entries and Larry Karper of Florence is third with 120 entries.

The $10,000 tagged lake trout “Howdy” is still in the lake. There are three $5,000, five $1,000, and one $1,000 tagged lake trout still out there along with over 9,000 tagged fish with values from $100 to $500.

Tagged trout with $100 values were turned in this weekend by Steve Benson of Spokane Valley, Mark McMillin of Missoula and Mike Benson of Lonepine. Devon Burkowski of Kalispell turned in a $200 tagged lake trout.

Weekend drawing winners were: Larry Ashwell of Missoula, $200; Bryan Long of Kalispell, Sam Cusker of Bigfork, Terry Krogstad of Kalispell, and Gene Corne of Kalispell, all $100 winners.

Up to $225,000 in cash and prizes that will be awarded at the conclusion of the event, and there is no entry fee. Anglers are encouraged to aid in this conservation effort to reduce the non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake, which in turn helps Increase the native bull trout and westslope cutthroat in Flathead Lake.

For more information, visit the website at www.mackdays.com or contact Cindy Benson at 406-270-3386 or cindy.benson@cskt.org.