Mack Days: Anglers brave chilly temps for week seven

Week seven of the 2023 Fall Mack Days Fishing Event on Flathead Lake ended with a total of 14,255 lake trout entries.

The 2022 event total at this time was 12,654; the 2021 total was 11,615; the 2020 total was 10,618; and 2019 total at this time of the event was 16,300 lake trout entries.

Friday’s total was 282 lake trout entries, Saturday’s was 430 entries, and Sunday’s was 413 entries, for a weekend total of 1,125.

Two weeks remain in the nine-week event sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Up to $200,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the event on Nov. 12.

Anglers endured cold conditions but were not deterred in their determination to bring in lake trout entries this past week. Some, including leading angler David Myers of Riverton, Wyo., even enjoyed it! He fishes Monday to Sunday and is

still on track to turn in lake trout every day of the event; Sunday, Oct. 29 was the 46th day in a row for him to enter a fish in Mack Days.

Many of the anglers fish Friday to Sunday, but have day jobs or other responsibilities during the week. We appreciate every angler who comes out. Each fish adds to our goal of slowing the lake trout population and increasing the native populations of bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. Thank you to all anglers who make the events successful!

Lake trout spawn in the fall and are coming in closer to the rocky steep shores of the lake. Casting from a boat in the shallower water, jigging in the deeper depths, or trolling are all methods being used by the tenacious, tough, and resilient lake trout anglers at this time.

Jigging for the lake trout results in higher numbers of smaller fish; trolling and casting anglers can also turn in some good numbers, although those fish are usually larger and there is a tussle getting them in the boat. Coolers fill up faster so it can take two.

Visit the podcast on the Montana Outdoor Radio Show website for fishing tips given by Mack Days anglers Scott Bombard and Mike Benson that originally aired Sept. 23. The Mack Days website also offers fishing videos by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai staff that give tips for trolling, jigging, and shore angling.

“Ghost,” the $10,000 lake trout is silently gliding through the deep, dark, murky depths of Flathead Lake. They say sometimes the best way to catch a fish is to let it catch you! Hopefully he decides to catch someone before the event ends. There are also three tagged fish worth $5,000, six worth $1,000  and more than 9,000 with values from $100 to $500.

Turning in $100 lake trout the seventh week were anglers Julie Perkins of Kalispell and Laurie Kreis of Huson (who caught two), Joe Minnehan of Kalispell, Larry Ashwell of Missoula, and Michael Benson of Lonepine.

Dave Myers is leading the Top Twenty anglers with 1,134 entries, 57.72 for an 18-day average; he hauled in 56 entries Friday, 62 on Saturday, and 54 on Sunday. Felix Gauci of Stevensville has a total of 953 entries for second; Michael Benson of Lonepine is third with 929 entries; Bob Stewart of Kalispell is fourth with 862; and Jerry Benson of Plains is fifth with 638.

Laurie Kreis holds first place in the Ladies category with 283; second is Julie Perkins with 179; third is Debby Sacchi with 143; fourth is Kim Mack of Helena with 67; and fifth is Pamela Simonich of Missoula with 14. Youth anglers Paisley Helvey and Blaine Helvey of Thompson Falls are leading with 18 entries each and Lucia Savoia of Missoula has 11 in the 13-17 category.

The last day of the Bucket of Fish competition will be Sunday, Nov. 5. It will be fun to watch and see how the buckets weigh out. Winners of the heaviest weight so far on the Friday and Saturday dates are Rick Skates of Big Arm (31.75 lbs.) and Richard and Laurie Kreis of Huson (34.65 lbs.).

Sunday’s winner receives $200, plus overall winners are judged by points (10 to the heaviest bucket, eight for the second, and so on). Skates has 18 and the Kreis boat has 14 points; Jens Gran of Polson has 8 points from the first day; if he get the heaviest winner on Sunday he could tie Rick Skates at 18 points. The tie would be broken by the combined weights of their buckets, unless the Kreis boat has points to add to its total to push their total to 18 or more.

Rick Skates has a total weight of 59.75 lbs. for two buckets and the Kreis buckets total 55.5.  With one bucket Jens Gran has a weight of 24.4 lbs. Good luck to all anglers and have fun!

We remind everyone to be aware of changing weather conditions, please make sure to have proper safety equipment and keep your cell phones dry.

Entries continue to be taken until the last day of the event and there is no entry fee. Send entries with your name, address, telephone number, and age to cindy.benson@cskt.org. Visit our website at www.mackdays.com for more information on categories, fishing tips, results, etc.