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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After Jean Claude Killy, who is a super guy and a friend to this day, had won his three gold medals in the Olympics, the company was approached by a slick sports personality agent, to produce a 13-week TV series of him skiing all over the world. Another disaster on top of the theatrical shows was all I needed, and it happened.

 

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Craig Prather remembers being introduced to downhill mountain biking. He was 18 years old with a less than healthy lifestyle. When someone urged him to take a seat and ride, he scoffed at the idea. But eventually, he skeptically agreed.

Today he’s still riding and owns a cycling shop in Whitefish, Great Northern Cycling at 328 Central Ave.

 

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The other day a guy from Cut Bank showed me a photo of a 15-pound brown trout. He said he caught it trolling out at Mission Lake east of Browning. I didn’t know there were browns in the Rez lakes, and I can’t say for sure he was telling the truth. When someone shows you big-fish photos from east of the mountains you expect rainbows, not browns.

Rainbows are great, but brown trout — non-natives introduced from Europe — connect with the primordial ooze that sits at the brainstem of most fishermen.

 

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Skiers and snowboarders tested their skimming skills and celebrated the end of the ski season at the 7th Annual Pond Skim at Whitefish Mountain Resort. This year, the mountain added a jump – used after first-round runs – and stretched the pond to 90 feet.

Click the photo or use the arrows to see more images from the Pond Skim.

 

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Among the legendary distance runners from Flathead High, Zach Perrin is in a league of his own after last weekend.

The Flathead junior ran the fastest 3,200 ever for a high schooler from Montana.

Perrin clocked 8:55.24 at the Arcadia Invitational track meet on Saturday in Los Angeles, Calif. He placed eighth out of 34 runners in a race that annually features the top runners from around the country. Sixteen kids broke nine minutes, and the winner finished in 8:47.75.

 

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Statewide snowpack levels increased for the third month in a row in March, especially in Northwest Montana, according to snow survey data from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Brian Domonkos, NRCS water supply specialist, said storm patterns favored the western and northern parts of the state with the Kootenai, Lower Clark Fork and Flathead river basins seeing substantial increases in snow water.

Snowpack levels in the Flathead River Basin are currently 106 percent of the average. This time last year the levels were 130 percent. The Kootenai is currently at 127 percent, 1 percent higher than last year.

Streamflow prospects across the state have increased in all basins except the Yellowstone and Milk river basins since last month. Looking at average river basin streamflow forecasts between April 1 through July 31, the Flathead is at 111 percent. Last year it was 137 percent. The Kootenai is expected to be 114 percent above average.

Most of Montana saw slightly above average snowfall for the month, helping the basins around the state remain at or slightly above average. Southwest Montana continues to recover from the dry weather and below average snowfall experienced through Jan. 1.

Montana typically has accumulated 95 percent of its seasonal snow cover by April 1, with most basins reaching average maximum snow water equivalent around mid-April. Above average precipitation during future months would likely increase runoff amounts.

Some basins in Montana continue to be below average. The Milk River Basin continued to be considerably low through the month of March, with little improvement from the storms that hit the rest of the state. The Wind, Big Horn, Powder, Tongue and Lower Yellowstone river basins in Wyoming have made the transition to a spring snowpack with the unseasonably warm temperatures, dropping significantly from the high percentages of average on March 1.

“With the possibility of a wet April like we experienced last year, we will continue to monitor any accumulations or warm temperatures in the mountains, as the next month’s weather will help dictate timing and volumes of stream flows across the state,” Domonkos said in a prepared statement.

 

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When I produced “Ski on the Wild Side” in the ‘60s, it was a major mistake. For the first time, I started to believe some of the very favorable press releases about my work (written by me, of course). I subsequently learned that to do this is the quickest way to guaranteed failure or bankruptcy, and I almost went through both: many of these negative things were obvious to everyone but me. Again, I can trace all of these problems to the college courses I should have taken but completely ignored instead.

 

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