Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

Jason Mahlen of Kalispell took the lead in the 2018 Spring Mack Days over the weekend, leading the anglers with 1,154 lake trout caught.

Mike Benson of Lonepine is in second place with 1,116 and Steve Benson of Spokane Valley, Washington rounds out the top three with 826.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes event continues through May 13. A total of 20,475 have been caught, which is about 600 fish short of this time last year.

Sam Cusker of Bigfork is fourth in the Top Ten Anglers category with 781 fish, followed by Felix Gauci of Stevensville (696), Kolton Turner of Kalispell (567), Scott Bombard of Missoula (540), Larry Karper of Florence (518), Robert Turner of Kalispell (504) and Ken Varga of Kalispell (487).

Daily limit of lake trout is 100 under 30 inches on the north end of the lake or 99 and plus one fish over 36 inches. The south half of the lake has just a daily limit of 100 so totals can change fast.

Tyler Varga of Kalispell leads the 13-17 category with 437, Rylan Koch of Butte is second with 20, Abby Hodgson of Kalispell is third with 19, Logan Lang has 15 for fourth, and in fifth is Brandon Paine of Kalispell with 14.

Matt Guckenberg, Jr., of Kalispell leads the 12 & Under group with 239, second is Brodie Smith with 28, Tripp Bick is third with 23, Emmett Ludahl is fourth with 12, and Scout Love of Columbia Falls has 3.

Lady angler Brandy Hilde of Bigfork still leads the ladies with 233, Julie Woolley of Manteca, California, has 209, Julie Perkins of Kalispell is third with 119, Debbie Paine of Polson is fourth with 56 and Julie Vacca of Florence has 38.

Another small lake trout turned in by Mike Benson moved into second that measured 179 mm (7.25 inches). The other smallest lake trout entered by David McDaniel is at 144mm (5.625 inches).

Largest lake trout is still Matt Guckenberg, Sr.’s, 40.25-inch, 24.925-pound fish. To enter a large lake trout, it has to be larger than the one now entered. The special categories and prizes are Friday to Sunday. Tuesday to Thursday counts on the angler’s total for bonus dollars and tagged fish. There is a special drawing for Tuesday to Thursday of six $50 prizes.

The $10,000, 3-$5,000, 5-$1,000 and over 6000 $500-$100 tagged fish are still in the lake. Catching tagged fish over the past week were: $100, Dave Hoback of Arlee, Jason Mahlen, Ken Varga, Tim Iverson, Travis Banyai and Bob Turner of Kalispell, Mark McMillan and Jack Kirkland of Missoula, Jerry Benson of Plains and Scout Love of Columbia Falls. Gary Perleberg of Bigfork turned in a $200 tagged lake trout.

Mack Days are used as a tool to reduce lake trout in Flathead Lake that are not native to the Flathead system and increase the numbers of native bull trout and weststlope cutthroat whose populations have declined over the years. Lake trout are voracious eaters and prey on other species of fish. They have been caught with full stomachs of fish and tails coming out of their mouths, and will still be looking for more. They also eat mysis shrimp which have changed the color of the flesh of the lake trout turning it to many different orange colors and making them less fatty to eat than they were back in the day when they were feeding on the now extinct kokanee salmon that were popular years ago. Once the lake trout population exploded the salmon were gone in a few years. Protecting the native fish and that have been in the system for thousands of years is important to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe and the people of Montana.

Entries continue to be taken until the last day of the event. Entry is free. For more information go to http://www.mackdays.com or telephone 406-270-3386.