Mack Days tournament leaderboard tightens

After five weekends of fishing on Flathead Lake, just nine lake trout separate the top two anglers in the 2016 Fall Mack Days fishing tournament.

A biennial contest hosted by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Mack Days offers up to $150,000 in prizes to encourage participants to help the tribes reduce non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake.

Mike Benson remains atop the contest’s main division with 803 entries in the first four weekends.

Terry Krogstad is in second place with 794 lake trout, followed by Felix Gauci’s 586 fish.

In first place within the ladies’ division is Laurie Kries with 130 lake trout. Brandy Hilde remains in second place with 107 entries. Kries is in 15th place overall, and Hilde is in 20th.

In the 70-and-over age group, Larry Karper leads with 395 entries, followed by Glenn Hoffman and Bob Christensen, who have reeled in 128 and 93 lake trout, respectively.

Tyler Varga, who has caught 50 lake trout, leads the 13-17 age category. In second place is Danner Shima with 12.

A total of 9,951 lake trout entries were turned in so far. Fall Mack Days ends Nov. 13.

For more information on Mack Days, call 406-270-3386 or visit www.mackdays.com.