Anglers tally over 2,000 in Mack Days opener

Fall Mack Days on Flathead Lake, sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, began Thursday Sept. 14, with a total of 492 lake trout entries.

Thursday marked the first day of 33 weekday fishing days during the nine-week-long fishing event. Mack Days are a tool to reduce the population of lake trout, which in turn helps native fish populations of bull trout and westslope cutthroat increase in Flathead Lake.

Weekend fishing began Friday with 668 entries coming in; Saturday’s total was 496; and a breezy Sunday brought a total of 346, for a weekend total of 1,510 lake trout entries and a combined total of 2,002.

There are 216 anglers registered in this year’s event. Anglers have the opportunity to fish 60 days or they can choose to fish however many they want. Entries continue to be taken until the last day of the event.

Up to $200,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the event on Nov. 12. include Ladies, Youth 12 and Under, 13-17, 70 and Over, Top Ten Anglers, Top Twenty Anglers, Smallest Lake Trout and Largest Lake Trout

Lottery drawings begin at $100 and go up to $2,000.

The $10,000 tagged lake trout “Ghost” is lurking in the murky depths of Flathead Lake. There are also three fish worth $5,000, six worth $1,000 and more than 9,000 with values from $100-$500 swimming throughout the lake.

Scott Bombard of Missoula turned in a $100 tagged fish on Sunday.

Felix Gauci of Stevensville is leading the anglers with a total of 179; Mike Benson of Lonepine is second with 163; David Myers of Riverton, Wyo., is third with 150; Jack Kirkland of Missoula is fourth with 131; and Larry Ashwell of Missoula is fifth with 126.

Laurie Kreis of Huson is leading in the Ladies Category with 47, followed by Kim Mack of Helena with 36, and Debbi Sacchi of Thompson Falls with 28.

Bear Yarrow, Holden Griffin and Ace Whimper, all of Clinton and all fishing from the same boat, each turned in one fish in the 12 & Under Category. Bucky Yarrow was waiting his turn and ran out of time before the breezy weather brought the boat in. Better luck next time, Bucky!

Jack Kirkland had the highest catch on Friday with 86, but watched his favorite fishing pole fly out of his hand when he suddenly felt the line jerk. The lunker took off fast and deep with Jack's favorite blue Cabela’s rod and a new Extreme reel trailing behind. The only compensation was bringing in the highest lake-trout catch of the day.

Sunday, Kirkland had another mishap. He had two lines out, had a bite, was reeling that fish in and somehow the other rod flipped out of the boat and sank. Two rods in one weekend was more than he could take.

He improvised and put two hooks on his remaining line and went trolling. Luckily, he caught the line of the rod that had sank and retrieved it. The favorite blue pole is still out there, but he was still smiling at the end of the weekend and looking forward to next week.

Felix Gauci had the high catch on Saturday with 82. Mike Benson’s 42 was the high on Sunday. He also reported catching a westslope cutthroat trout, two bass, and a whitefish.

Smallest fish entries so far are Bryan Long and Bob Stewart, both of Kalispell, with 199mm (7.8 inch) lake trout. There have been no large fish entries.

CSKT Fisheries advises anglers to stay hydrated, be prepared with extra water, safety equipment and PFDs, stay alert to weather changes, let someone know when they're coming off the water, and keep their cell phones dry.

Anglers should also know their fish identification. There are fish ID tips on the website or anglers can ask for fish IDs when checking in their catch.

Check out the website at www.mackdays.com to see the categories, rules, fishing tips; email entry forms to cindy.benson@cskt.org, call 406-270-3386, or enter at the end of the day.