BLUE BAY — The fall chapter of Mack Days has ended, and it was one for the history books. Event coordinators and participants congregated at the contest’s Blue Bay headquarters on Sunday evening for a fish fry and award ceremony to recognize the fishing contest’s top performers. There was plenty to celebrate, with this fall’s tournament establishing new records for the most fish caught by a woman angler, the most valuable tagged lake trout caught in the contest’s history and, on a more serious note, the first case where someone had to spend the night on the lake - a distinction indicative of the season’s unusually harsh weather that fishermen needed to endure.

Despite the challenges, a total of 14,330 lake trout were turned in over the course of the event. The per-day average of 573 lake trout entries surpassed those from the last two falls.

Terry Krogstad was honored as the season’s top angler, with a total of 956 catches, and a leading average of 63 fish per day. Mike Benson, of Lonepine, placed second in both average and total number of fish caught, with a total count of 1,001 (54.4 per day). Polson fisherman Roger Dilts caught the most fish overall, with 1,051 entries, and came in third when ranked by his per-day average (52.5). Jeanee Mooney finished tenth overall, while setting a new women’s record for the fall event.

While Mooney’s total haul of 411 lake trout stands as a new milestone, she had plenty of stiff competition from other women in the contest. Local top-five finishers included Polson’s Deana Knipe, who earned third-place after netting 132 fish, and Ronan’s Kim McMillie, who took fourth with 101 lake trout.

The youth division was won by Polson’s Eric Sams, whose total of 45 fish topped second-place finisher Tom McDonald of Niarada and third-place angler Wyatt Jensen, also of Polson. The top three finishers in the 12-and-under group were Dylan Hodgson, Abby Hodgson, and Moiese’s Ethan Haflinger, respectively.

Although his name didn’t appear atop the leaderboard, the biggest winner was arguably Roger Schiff, 43, of Whitefish, who caught a tagged fish worth $5,000 earlier in the tournament. Schiff was hardly the only Mack Days participant to receive a monetary bonus from the event, as a total of 144 tagged fish were reeled in by lucky individuals and other cash prizes were given to particularly successful anglers.

The contest does far more good than simply aiming to balance trout populations in the lake. According to a press release from Mack Days officials, “food banks from Kalispell to Missoula to St. Regis have received lake trout that are processed during the event.” The notice added that fish byproducts are sent to a composter for future use as fertilizer for gardens.

This fall’s contest was lent added significance since its future was shrouded in uncertainty only a few months ago. Grappling with various options for managing Flathead Lake’s booming population of introduced lake trout, CSKT officials announced earlier this year that the contest would be renewed, and would be a focal point of their aggressive plan to reduce lake trout numbers by as much as 75 percent in the long run.

At Sunday’s award ceremony, fisheries biologist Barry Hansen reminded anglers that their contributions through Mack Days remain the Tribes’ most valuable ally on the frontlines of the fight to restore native fish populations.

“That’s our first tool to going after that target harvest,” Hansen said.