Don Beville had a busy weekend on Flathead Lake. The Lakeside angler hauled in 140 lake trout between Friday and Sunday and took the overall lead at the Spring Mack Days fishing event. Beville has caught 706 fish total.

Anglers caught 3,911 fish over the weekend and are still on pace to break the total catch record. Through 18 days, 19,051 lake trout have been entered. Friday’s windy day total was 765; Saturday had 1,889 entries; and Sunday had 1,257. The event has 890 registered competitors.

Mike Benson from Lonepine is runner-up in the overall catch total with 675. Polson's Craig Morigeau is third with 595. Tracy Powers from Missoula leads all women with 204. Tanner Murry from Columbia Falls leads the youth 13-17 division with 169. Charlo's Garett Vaughan leads the youth 12 and under division with 123. Top 10 anglers will be placed on their best 18-day average at the end of the event on May 20.

Spring Mack Days Leaderboard
Through Sixth Week
Men
Don Beville, Lakeside, 706
Mike Benson, Lonepine, 675
Craig Morigeau, Polson, 595
Steven Benson, Four Lakes, Wash., 558
Danny Smith, Hot Springs, 557
Scott Bombard, Missoula, 530
Jason Mahlen, Kalispell, 517
Jerry Benson, Plains, 486
David McDaniel, Polson, 441
Larry Schmill, Missoula, 394

Women
Tracy Powers, Missoula, 204
Susan Martin, Polson, 158
Deana Knipe, Polson, 66
Nicole Peters, Missoula, 62
Terry Biere, Butte, 37

Youth 13-17
Tanner Murry, Columbia Falls, 169
Connor Kowalski, Florence, 148
Garrett Beville, Lakeside, 98
Kobe Cox, Charlo, 58
Roger Guillory, Kalispell, 44

Youth 12 & Under
Garett Vaughan, Charlo, 123
Dylan Hodgson, Kalispell, 37
Danner Shima, Kalispell, 34
Carson McDaniel, Polson, 23
Autumn Powers, Missoula, 18

 

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The legacy continues. The logger sports team from Flathead Valley Community College remains the best in the U.S.

Earlier this month, the team of young men and women from FVCC won its second consecutive national championship. The group placed first out of 13 teams at the 73rd annual Association of Western Forestry Clubs Conclave.

Over the last 25 years, the FVCC team has now won 14 national championships.

Logger sports sprouted from the rich history of forestry and logging. Events include competitions like the axe throw, horizontal hard hit chop and obstacle pole buck.

On Saturday, April 21, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., FVCC is hosting its annual home competition, Stumpjumper Days. FVCC has hosted the annual competition since 1972, with the exception of 2006 when the new logger sports arena was under construction. This year, 60 students from five colleges and universities including the University of Montana, University of Idaho, Colorado State University and Oregon State University will compete.

Admission is free. The event is held at FVCC's Logger Sports Arena, located east of Hutton Ranch Plaza off U.S. Highway 93. To find the arena, turn east at the first stop light just north of FVCC, take the road through Hutton Ranch Plaza to a gravel road that heads up a hill to the left. Follow the gravel road up the hill.

RELATED: Stumpjumper Days Loggers Sports Competition at FVCC

 

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Temperatures nearly reached 90 degrees for Monday's 116th Boston Marathon, leading more than 4,000 of the nearly 27,000 registered runners to opt out of the 26.2-mile race.

But a few Flathead Valley runners persevered. Kalispell's Casey Dunn clocked 3:21:14, placing 1,964th. Richard Briles from Kalispell finished in 3:54:59 and placed 7,491st. Kasey Young from Whitefish finished in 4:00:27, for 8,724th place. Jill Clark from Kalispell finished in 4:21:31, placing 13,631.

Devin Cowan from Helena was the top Montana finisher. He finished in 2:45:30 and placed 125th. Scott N. Sneddon from Billings finished in 2:50:46 for 217th place. Missoula's Derek Kanwischer, 2:57:34, was 403rd. There were 68 runners from Montana registered in this year's oldest annual marathon in the world.

Finishing this year's race is especially impressive considering the scorching temperatures. According to a Los Angeles Times story, race organizers said more than 2,000 participants received some level of medical attention.

The temperatures even slowed down the Kenyans. A year after Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai ran the fastest marathon in history, Wesley Korir became the 19th Kenyan in 22 years to win the men's race, finishing in 2:12:40. Sharon Cherop, the third Kenyan woman to win in the past five years, clocked 2:31:50. Both were the slowest winning times since 1985.

 

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The Kalispell Lakers are holding the 18th annual American Legion Baseball fundraiser golf tournament on April 23 at Village Greens.

The tournament is a two-person scramble supporting the local legion baseball program as it prepares for the upcoming season.

The event is $130 per team and will feature hole and team prizes.

The Lakers AA team will hold its first home game April 29 against Helena. The Lakers A team kicks off the season in Helena on April 21.

To register or for more info, call BJ Collins 871-3669 or Village Greens 752-4666.

Players are currently selling season tickets and team sponsorships. For more information, contact Marc Liechti at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

 

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Ryan Shima was about to move his boat after a stagnant stretch of fishing on Flathead Lake with his son and father last Saturday. That's when the big fish hit. The fight lasted 20 minutes before Shima finally reeled in the catch. He later acknowledged being a little grumpy because he thought his catch wasn't big enough to qualify in the largest fish category of the Spring Mack Days competition. But then he measured it.

The lake trout measured 42.5 inches long and weighed 24.5 pounds, making it the largest fish caught at this year's tournament so far.

The winner of the largest fish category is awarded $500. To qualify, trout have to measure longer than 36 inches and weigh over 24 pounds.

Mack Days anglers turned in 2,952 lake trout entries last weekend, bringing the spring total to 15,097.

The prized $10,000 lake trout continues to dodge the bait along with five $5,000 catches and 10 worth $1,000.

Mike Benson of Lonepine continues to lead the men's total catch count with 583. Don Beville of Lakeside is runner-up with 566. Missoula's Tracy Powers is in first for women with 164.

While Shima took the lead for largest catch last weekend, Roger Dilts of Polson landed a qualifier in the smallest fish category. Dilts caught a lake trout measuring 6 7/8 inches. Jason Mahlen has caught the smallest entry so far with a 6 1/2-inch lake trout. The two smallest lake trout entries are awarded $250.

The event ends on May 20. Information about tagged fish can be found on the Mack Days website along with other information about the event. Or call 883-2888 (ext. 7294).

Spring Mack Days Leaderboard
Through Fifth Week
Men
Mike Benson, Lonepine, 583
Don Beville, Lakeside, 566
Steve Benson, Four Lakes, Wash. 478
Craig Morigeau, Polson, 476
Scott Bombard, Missoula, 476
Jason Mahlen, Kalispell, 425
Jerry Benson, Plains, 402
David McDaniel, Polson, 395
Danny Smith, Hot Springs, 394
Chuck Forgey, Polson, 321

Women
Tracy Powers, Missoula, 164
Susan Martin, Polson, 132
Deana Knipe, Polson, 59
Terry Biere, 37
Kathryn Cox, 36
Nicole Peters, 35
Debbie O'Hara, 23

Youth 13-17
Connor Kowalski, Florence, 148
Tanner Murry, Kalispell, 129
Garrett Beville, Lakeside, 75
Roger Guillory, Kalispell, 37
Kobe Cox, Charlo, 30
Brady Wieble, 24
Keegan Noyd, 11

Youth 12 and Under
Garett Vaughan, 105
Dylan Hodgson, Kalispell, 21
Danner Shima, Kalispell, 21
Autumn Powers, 18
Carson McDaniel, 13
Kailey Schrader, Kalispell, 13
Adam Schrader, Kalispell, 13

 

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Click the image or use the arrows to see more photos from the 20 Grand show at the Bierstube at Whitefish Mountain Resort.

WHITEFISH – On any given night, depending on the mood and makeup of the crowd, the funk band 20 Grand might transition from Aretha Franklin to Rage Against the Machine, alternating from the soulful Kerri Joy singing lead to emcee E Rock grabbing the mic. Despite the diversity of the set list, the band’s nine members – to use an appropriate idiom – never miss a beat. And the crowd never, ever stops dancing.

 

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As the 22nd season at Montana Raceway Park approaches, drivers and crew members can register at a membership meeting on Saturday, April 14 at the Fun Beverage Conference Center on U.S. Highway 93 south.

Beginning at 11 a.m., people can register their car numbers and file proper paperwork to secure membership for the 2012 racing season. Schedule information, rule updates and other information will be provided to race teams at 1 p.m. Officials will be on hand to answer technical questions.

The racing season kicks off with the Test, Tune and Tech day on May 5 followed by the Pepsi Cola Season Opener on May 12.

For more information visit the Montana Raceway Park website or call 257-RACE (7223).

 

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Anglers are on a record-breaking pace at this year’s Spring Mack Days event.

Through four weekends, 12,143 lake trout have been caught. With 22 days remaining, competitors are on pace to break the Mack Days record set in 2010, when 34,350 fish were caught. Anglers had landed 11,850 by the fourth weekend that year.

Friday, April 6, saw the second most fish caught in one day this spring. Competitors hauled in 1,375. The record this year came on March 31 when a total of 1,535 fish were caught. On Saturday, the total was 1,141 and on Easter Sunday, when rolling waves were reported despite sunny skies, the total dropped to 589.

Craig Morigeau of Polson had a successful weekend on the water, landing 125 fish on Friday and Saturday. Morigeau is currently third on the men’s leaderboard with 381 total lake trout. Mike Benson of Lonepine is in first with 478. Don Beville from Lakeside caught 120 fish in three days and is currently second with 413.

Polson’s Susan Martin leads the women with 96 fish. Tracy Powers of Missoula is runner-up with 79.

Connor Kowalski from Florence holds his impressive lead with 148 lake trout. Columbia Falls’ Tanner Murry is second with 102.

Most of the prized tagged trout dodged the bait this week. Steve Thompson from Columbia Falls and Roger Dilts from Polson scored $200 catches. Four others caught $100 fish.

As the tournament passes the halfway point, Mack Days officials are offering a few tips. Fishing reports are showing the lake trout are hanging out deep down around 220-260 feet. The use of a map that shows the depths and contours of the lake or a good fish finder is essential, Mack Days officials are saying. The lake trout seem to be concentrated on steep drop-off areas and off of the steep points. Some anglers are saying that following the contours, where the depths go down but not too steep, also produces some lake trout. Changing bait often is recommended before it gets too water logged.

Officials are reminding anglers to keep fish on ice if they’re planning to donate to food banks.

The tournament continues on weekends until May 11 when the final 10 days straight are open.

Spring Mack Days Leaderboard
Through Four Weekends
Men
Mike Benson, Lonepine, 478
Don Beville, Lakeside, 413
Steven Benson, Four Lakes, Wash., 394
Craig Morigeau, Polson, 381
Scott Bombard, Missoula, 370
Jason Mahlen, Kalispell, 349
Danny Smith, Hot Springs, 324
David McDaniel, Polson, 321
Chuck Forgey, Arlee, 321
Jerry Benson, Plains, 300

Women
Susan Martin, Polson, 96
Tracy Powers, Missoula, 79
Terry Biere, Butte, 37
Kathryn Cox, Rollins, 36
Deana Knipe, Polson, 36

Youth 13-17
Connor Kowalski, Florence, 148
Tanner Murry, Columbia Falls, 102
Brady Wieble, Charlo, 24
Kobe Cox, Charlo, 23
Roger Guillory, Kalispell, 19

Youth 12 and under
Garett Vaughan, Charlo, 88
Dylan Hodgson, Kalispell, 21
Autumn Powers, Missoula, 18
Carson McDaniel, Polson, 13
Kailey Schrader, Kalispell, 13
Adam Schrader, Kalispell, 13

 

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