Teen tops all anglers at Mack Days

The Daily Inter Lake

Stephen Naethe, a 16-year-old from Pablo, was the top angler in the three-week Spring Mack Days fishing tournament on Flathead Lake.

The tournament ended Sunday with Naethe recording a total of 714 lake trout entries, well ahead of his closest competition, second-place finisher Paul Haines of Ronan with 556 lake trout.

The tournament ended with the second largest overall haul in its seven-year history, a total of 12,651 lake trout entries.

The event is sponsored by the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes and sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks as part of a program aimed at curbing non-native lake trout numbers in Flathead Lake.

Other top finishers were Mike Benson, Hot Springs, 381 lake trout; Dean Vaughan, Charlo, 432; Dan Smith, Hot Springs, 384; David McDaniel, Polson, 306.

Top women anglers were Nicole Peters, Polson, with 252 lake trout, followed by Debbie O'Hara, St. Ignatius, 121; Susanne Albrecht, Polson, 120; Cindy Howe, Kalispell, 103; Deana Knipe, Polson, 61; and Terry Biere, Butte, 61.

After Naethe, the top youth anglers were Garrett Vaughan, Charlo, 75; Terry Biere, Butte, 61; Tanner Murry, Columbia Falls, 50; Alexander Brown, Lakeside, 36; Daniel Hunt, St. Ignatius, 33.

Captain Bob Orsusa of Mo Fisch Charters caught the largest lake trout, a 31.1-pound lunker. Naethe had the smallest catch, a laker measuring 110 millimeters.