Fall Mack Days ends Nov. 12
Just one week remains of the 2023 Fall Mack Days on Flathead Lake, sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Up to $200,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded Sunday, Nov. 12, the last day of the event. All fish entries need to be turned in at Blue Bay by 3 p.m., followed by a small awards ceremony and the posting of lottery drawing winners.
Total lake trout entries for the Mack Days are 15,934. The total fish entered Fridays through Sundays are 12,423, and Monday through Thursday totals are 3,511 entries. Last Friday’s total entries were 443, Saturday’s entries were 568, and Sunday entries were 355, for a weekend total of 1,366.
“Ghost,” the $10,000 tagged lake trout is still lurking in the depths of the lake. There are also three $5,000 tagged lake trout and six $1,000 tagged fish, that are pretty skilled at evading the anglers. Over 9,000 tagged lake trout continue to roam the lake with values from $100 to $500.
Turning in $100 tagged lake trout the past week were Jens Gran of Polson and Richard Kreis of Huson, who each turned in two, Joshua Wisniewski of Missoula, Michael Benson of Lonepine and Marty Herak of Polson. A $200 tagged fish was turned in by Jack Kirkland of Missoula.
David Myers of Riverton, Wyo., is still holding on to the lead going into the final week. He has a total of 1,314 lake trout entries in the Friday-to-Sunday category, which is what counts for the Top 20 Anglers. He also has fished the Monday-to-Thursday days of the event for a total of 53 straight days of Mack Days fishing. His total so far is 2,513 lake trout entries.
His first Mack Days event was Spring 2021, when he only participated for two weeks and had a total of 119 Friday-to-Sunday days. He became addicted after entering his third event last spring and decided he was going to come back and fish the whole event when he retired. David’s 18-day average is 61.33, his Friday total is 48, Saturday 62, and Sunday 70.
Second place and not too far behind is Felix Gauci of Stevensville with 1,088, third is Michael Benson of Lonepine with 1,084; fourth is Bob Stewart of Kalispell with 980; and fifth is Jerry Benson at 735. The Top 10 Anglers will be placed by their 18-day average.
Laurie Kreis of Huson leads the Ladies category with 293 lake trout entries; second place is Julie Perkins of Kalispell with 179; and third place is Debby Sacchi of Thompson Falls with 143 entries.
Blaine Helvey and Paisley Helvey of Thompson Falls share the lead in the 12 and Under with 18 lake trout entries each; Lucia Savoia of Missoula is the lone entry in the 17 and Over with 11 entries.
The Bucket of Fish Days ended last weekend with Jens Gran of Polson turning in the heaviest bucket at 26.95 lbs.; Michael Benson was second with 25.35; third was Larry Ashwell at 23.2; fourh place was Calvin Dee of Missoula at 17.6; and fifth place was Richard Kreis at 16.8 lbs.
Rick Skates and Jens Gran tied for first overall with 18 points each. Ties are broken by total weight and Rick won with his total of 59.75 lbs. while Jens came in second with a weight of 51.35. The Kreis boat took third place with 16 points overall. Bucket fish have to be under 30 inches and anglers heaviest four fish go in the bucket.
Smallest lake trout were pulled in by Paul Groves with a 141mm lake trout entry and Felix Gauci and Jerry Benson, who tied with 145mm entries.
The large lake trout continue to win the battles on the lake. They just don’t cooperate when it comes to getting in the boat, yielding no entries so far. Several reports have come in of big ones on the line, but no hunkers landed yet.
It is not too late to register and get some entries in the lottery drawings. Entries will be accepted at any time, even on the last day.
Stay tuned to weather information, have proper safety equipment on board, and stay safe out there! Contact Cindy Benson at 406-270-3386, or email entries to cindy.benson@cskt.org.