Search Articles:

 

Breaking News......... Body found near Rainbow Dam is missing Great Falls man......... Street cleaning ahead for southern part of Missoula......... Two teenagers injured in ATV accident......... Osprey fall to Billings, 8-7......... Local News......... 8-year-old Missoula girl electrocuted on 4th; Man dies in Flathead boating accident........Departing doctors: State faces shortage of primary-care physicians........Departing doctors: Physicians may face legal hurdles if they leave hospitals........Primary-care physician losses minimal in Billings........Dancing with honor: Ronan teen proudly accepts responsibility as Arlee Celebration's Young Warrior........Montana Meth Project's claims under scrutiny........

POLSON - The teenager who made waves at last year's Fall Mack Days is at it again.

Fifteen-year-old Stephen Naethe of Pablo is in first place after one weekend of the seven-weekend-long event on Flathead Lake.

Naethe - who caught a grand total of eight lake trout the first time he competed in Fall Mack Days, as a 13-year-old - reeled in 81 mackinaws Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and leads defending champion Mike Benson of Hot Springs, who caught 62.

Naethe also held a lead last year - that time, after the second weekend of the event - and wound up finishing in sixth place with 498 lake trout. Benson ran away from the field as Mack Days wore on last year, catching his limit of 50 on several days, and totaling 847 fish.

This year's tournament got off to a slower start, with the 350 anglers registered so far turning in 832 fish, more than 500 fewer than the first weekend of 2007.

Anglers can enter at any time during the tournament to become eligible for the more than $45,000 in prize money available by visiting www.mackdays.com.

One of the 832 caught over the weekend was a tagged fish worth $100, turned in by Bill Swaney. The tournament began with 750 tagged fish, worth $100 to $5,000.

Darcy Wider of Arlee took the lead in the smallest lake trout category with a 214-millimeter fish. The two smallest fish turned in are worth $250 apiece.

No one has yet qualified for the $500 largest lake trout prize. That fish must be longer than 36 inches and weigh more than 24 pounds.

Trailing Naethe and Benson in the overall category are Paul Lebert of Columbia Falls (53), Paul Haines of Ronan (50) and Brendt Hammernick of Missoula (33).

Naethe's 81 gives him a commanding lead in the youth division, where three anglers - Cody Burke and Keegan Noyd of Missoula, and Levi Jescke of Kalispell - are tied for second with six fish apiece.

Stephanie Lebert of Columbia Falls leads the women's division with 17 lake trout. LeAnn Blem of Polson is second with 12, followed by Dolly Fleck of Bigfork with nine.

Sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Fall Mack Days is designed to restore a balance to the Flathead Lake fishery by controlling the population of the non-native and predacious lake trout, which threatens others species that are native to the lake.

Anglers can turn in lake trout until dark at Blue Bay, and until 5:30 p.m. at the boat ramp areas at Somers and Salish Point in Polson. The tournament runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 16.

Last year, more than 14,000 lake trout were harvested during Fall Mack Days.

---

---

Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)

---