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Anglers Land 3,000 Lake Trout on Opening Weekend of Mack Days

By Beacon Staff

Anglers caught 3,000 lake trout on the opening weekend of the Spring Mack Days on Flathead Lake. This year’s popular fishing tournament drew 680 anglers March 16-18 who are vying for $150,000 in cash and prizes. The tournament, sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, continues until May 20.

Anglers brought in 998 trout on the rainy opening day, March 16. Saturday’s total was 1,246 and Sunday’s total was 756.

Chuck Forgey from Arlee, the 2010 spring winner, is the current leader with 150 trout. Mike Benson from Lonepine is runner-up with 131.

Terry Biere of Butte leads the ladies with 37 trout. Susan Martin of Polson is second with 24. Connor Kowalski of Florence is the youth leader with 34.

The Mack Days events are used as a tool by fisheries managers to reduce the number of lake trout in Flathead Lake. Anglers receive one ticket for each lake trout entered in the event for the drawings that begin at $1,000 and go down to $100.

There are over 4,000 tagged lake trout with values from $10,000-$100. In the first weekend, 19 tagged lake trout were turned in totaling $2,300.

Event organizers passed along a reminder to anglers about correctly identifying the fish. Any bull trout turned in during Mack Days events will be transferred to the authorities. Organizers posted bull trout information online.

For more information on Mack Days, visit http://www.mackdays.com/.

Spring Mack Days Leaderboard
After First Weekend
Men
Chuck Forgey, Arlee, 150
Mike Benson, Lonepine, 131
Terry Krogstad, Kalispell, 129
Scott Bombard, Missoula, 124
Danny Smith, Hot Springs, 116
Steven Benson, Four Lakes, Wash., 100
David McDaniel, Polson, 87
Marty Noyd, Missoula, 81
Alvin Haase, Stevensville, 71
Jason Mahlen, Kalispell, 69

Women
Terry Biere, Butte, 37
Susan Martin, Polson, 24
Michelle Slyder, Billings, 18
Kathryn Cox, Rollings, 8
Autumn Powers, Billings, 7

Youth (13-17)
Connor Kowalski, Florence, 34
Keegan Noyd, Missoula, 11
Wyatt Jensen, Polson, 6
Eric Sams, Polson, 6
Roger Guillory, Kalispell, 6

Youth (12 and under)
Garett Vaughan, Kalispell, 28
Dylan Hodgson, Kalispell, 9
Autumn Powers, Billings, 7
Danner Shima, Kalispell, 2
Cole Gilleard, Charlo, 2
Brianna Stone, Polson, 1