Turner keeps Mack Days lead; Guckenberg Sr. boats two tagged lakers

With four weeks in and five left to fish, the Spring Mack Days leader board has changed very little.

Kolton Turner of Kalispell is in first place in the top 20 angler category with 892 entries. He has turned in the limit of 100 lake trout for five days in a row that he has fished. For last weekend he had 100 on Friday, chose not to fish on Saturday and 100 fish entries on Sunday.

Bob Turner has 734 for third place. He turned in 87 on Friday, zero on Saturday, and 90 on Sunday. The Turner boat has turned in a total of 1,626 in total so far during the event.

Jason Mahlen of Kalispell is second with 855. He also has five 100-fish days with the last being on Sunday. His total on Friday was 93, Saturday he did not fish, and Sunday he turned in 100 coming off the water at 2 p.m. with a limit.

Fourth place goes to Sam Cusker of Bigfork with 434, fifth place is Steven Benson of Spokane Valley with 421, in sixth place is Mike Benson of Lonepine with 416, seventh place is Ken Varga of Kalispell with 403, and son Tyler Varga is in eighth with 382,

Scott Bombard of Missoula is ninth with 370 and in 10th is Travis Banyai of Kalispell with 308.

The event, sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, is offering up to $225,000 in cash and prizes that will be awarded at the conclusion of the fishing event on May 16.

A total of 14,068 lake trout have been entered with 12,683 during Friday to Sunday fishing and 1,385 during the Monday to Thursday angling days.

Friday’s total was 1,060 - a very windy and cold Saturday had a total of 64 entries. Most anglers did not go out on the water, several drove to boat ramps and anxiously watched and waited for calmer waters that never came!

Sunday was a much better weather day, there were 1,498 lake trout turned in. Some anglers fish as many days as possible others fish a few chosen days, and some only fish one day.

Many boats are leaving the boat ramp areas before dawn and not returning until late evening. Every angler counts and contributes to the goal of increasing native fish numbers in Flathead Lake by decreasing the population of the non-native lake trout.

Jaws, the tagged fish worth $10,000, is still swimming in the lake. He joins three $5,000 lakers, five of $1,000 and more than 9,000 with $100-$500 values are waiting for just the right lures.

Matt Guckenberg Sr. of Kalispell was lucky enough to bring in $100 and a $500 lake trout.

Travis Banyai of Kalispell was another lucky angler with $200 and $100 tagged lakers. Chris Shae and Bob Turner of Kalispell each had $100 tagged lake trout. There have been 34 tagged lake trout turned in so far.

Once anglers turn in 11 fish they begin to accumulate bonus dollars. Go to www.mackdays.com to see the bonus chart, rules, entry form, fish ID, etc. or telephone 406-270-3386 for information.

In the Golden Oldies group (70 and over), Jack Kirkland of Missoula leads with 256 lake trout, Larry Karper of Florence is second with 213, Larry Ashwell of Missoula is third with 194, fourth place is held by Marty Herak of Polson with 119, and fifth place is John Gauci of Florence with 63.

Julie Perkins of Kalispell continues her lead in the Ladies category with 183, second place is Connie Jones of Kalispell with 50, third place is Debbie Paine of Polson with 27, fourth place is Laurie Kreis of Huson with 26 and fifth place is Lisa Cloo of Clinton with 25.

In the 13-17 age group,

Matt Guckenberg, Jr., of Kalispell has a total of 158 for first, second place is Abby Hodgson of Kalispell with 26, third place is Josey McIlhargey of Kalispell with 23, fourth place is Colton Spacht of Culbertson with 13, and fifth place is Bryce Harvey of Kalispell with 10.

In the 12-and-under group, Brodie Smith of Kalispell is first with 159, second place is Tripp Bick of Arlee with five, Gage Spring of Alberton is in third place with 2, and Kaden Blowers of Missoula and Ridder Bissegger of Polson each have one lake trout entry.

Winners of the weekend random electronic drawing of $100 each were: Larry

Karper, Matt Guckenberg, Jr., Mike Benson, Sou Thao of Missoula, and Jason

Mahlen.

Bucket Day number two is Saturday April 17. Anglers put their four heaviest lake trout under 30 inches into a bucket and a weight is recorded. The heaviest bucket wins $200.

Shore anglers and boat anglers alike enjoy this competition. Points are given and overall prizes after the third bucket day are awarded.

All it takes is one lake trout entry to be qualified for a lottery drawing from $1,000 to $50. Lottery prizes are drawn the day after the event ends. There will be 67 drawings for the prizes.

Entries continue to be taken until the last day of the event and there is no entry

fee. For more information please visit www.mackdays.com.