He's gotten a tad better at fishing for mackinaw in the months since.
When this year's event comes to a close Sunday afternoon, Naethe - he's 14 years old - will likely have turned in more than 500 fish.
That put him on track to collect $500, which anyone who catches at least 500 fish is paid.
And the boy long ago sewed up the No. 1 spot in the youth division, which carries a $150 prize.
He's not the only youngster making waves in Fall Mack Days. Another 14-year-old, Heidi Hereford of Missoula, led the women's division heading into the final weekend with 168 lake trout and was second to Naethe in the youth category.
And a 10-year-old Kalispell girl, Mikayla Lebert, was third behind Naethe and Hereford at 126.
It's not just his age that makes Naethe's strong showing in Mack Days a compelling story. While most of the nearly 500 anglers entered can zip around the lake in boats looking for concentrations of lake trout, and then troll through those waters, the boy is limited to jigging in a relatively small area along the East Shore south of Blue Bay.
Bundled in up to four coats, Neoprenes and hip waders, he uses fins on his feet to maneuver his one-person pontoon float tube from daybreak to dark in the cold waters.
Naethe, who is home-schooled and lives with his mother Mary in Pablo, took up fishing three years ago.
“He'd been dying to fish since he was 6 or 7 years old,” Mary says. “I hadn't fished in 30 years, and I didn't know anything about lake fishing.”
She says she went to some fishing events and approached adult anglers about teaching her son, but got nowhere with the strangers. They either declined, or said yes but never followed through.
Finally, when Stephen was 11, she told him, “All right, I'm fed up - if I have to tromp through the brush myself, I'm going to find a spot I can take you.”
They drove to Zimmer's Tackle in Pablo to buy Stephen his first rod, reel and gear.
And that's the day the mackinaw, predators and a non-native species to the Flathead fishery had a new threat looming on the horizon.
Dick “Mack Man” Zimmer originally didn't give much thought to the mother and young boy who showed up in his shop.
“My first impression was he was just another dumb kid who wanted to go fishing,” Zimmer says. “But he kept showing up. Anybody with an affinity for fishing, I gravitate in that direction.”
Zimmer told Stephen he'd take him out on the lake, and quickly discovered the boy had a knack for fishing, and was a quick study.
“In some ways, he's more focused than his peers,” Zimmer says. “He's an avid student - a good grasshopper who's gotten better than the master, I'm afraid.”
“Dick Zimmer taught me everything I know about fishing the lake,” Stephen says. “I'd always been interested. I just needed the right person to get me started. I really got serious after that.”
The more he fishes, the more he learns.
“I try to adapt to whatever mood the fish are in,” Stephen says. “And I used to be real avid about sharpening my hooks. Then one weekend I lost almost every fish I hooked. I haven't sharpened a hook since. I haven't even set a hook since.”
Zimmer has become her son's mentor, Mary says.
“Not a father figure, but more like a big brother,” she says. “They kid around a lot. I can't say enough good things about Dick.”
Zimmer says Stephen's quick reflexes and high energy serve him well on the lake.
“Most people might never think that,” Zimmer says. “They usually see fishing as a slow and patient sport. But those reflexes and energy make a big difference in being able to get lots of fish.”
Stephen, who won the youth division during Spring Mack Days with 109 lake trout, had caught 465 macks going into this final weekend of the fall event. Mack Days are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in an effort to control the lake trout population and help increase the numbers of native fish, such as bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout.
Since that day three years ago when they first entered Zimmer's shop, Stephen has gone to work for Zimmer as a bait fisherman, where Stephen is paid 50 cents a pound for his catches, and a few months ago he and his mom moved into a rental that Zimmer and his wife Paula have behind the tackle shop.
There's no TV in the house - Mary won't allow it, and Stephen would rather be outside fishing, skiing or picking mushrooms anyway once his schoolwork is finished. The living room is dominated by a chest freezer Stephen keeps stocked with fish.
“It's just been Stephen and me since he was born,” Mary says. “He came along late. My first husband died of a heart attack and I had remarried, but it didn't work out from the get-go.”
Stephen's father, a recruiter in the military, has had no contact with his son for years. Mary's other son, from her first marriage, was a teenager when Stephen was born and lives out of state.
Next to the trailer they rent from Zimmer sits, ironically, the 1984 16-foot Gregor welded aluminum boat with the 25 horsepower Evinrude Stephen bought two months ago with the money he earns bait fishing.
Five days after Fall Mack Days ends, Stephen will turn 15 and be old enough to operate it alone.
Until then, he's only legal operating the boat if he's accompanied by an adult. His mother - who delivers Missoulians and Daily Interlakes, and works from 12:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. - isn't about to get off her job and spend the next 12 hours straight sitting in a boat.
But one of her customers knew Stephen wanted one, and told Mary about a boat they'd seen for sale.
“I drove by it for two weeks straight, and finally gave the guy a call,” Mary says.
Once he met Stephen, Gary Waggoner of Polson knocked $500 off his asking price, took the boy out on the lake and showed him how everything ran, and agreed to take a down payment and monthly installments from the 14-year-old.
And, after they'd settled on a price and terms, Waggoner announced he was throwing in everything from a fish finder to life jackets to the hardware where downriggers can be mounted.
“He was wonderful,” Mary says. “We were total strangers when we showed up, and he did it all on a handshake. I paid for the license, but Stephen is paying for the boat from the money he earns.”
Mom had another rule, too: “If he was going to fish, he was going to know everything about it, from catching them to cooking them,” Mary says. “I scouted out some recipes, gave him some pointers and he took off running. He fries them, bakes them, boils them and steams them.”
When the freezer in the living room gets to overflowing, Stephen donates filleted fish to the Polson Loaves and Fish Food Pantry to distribute to those in need.
“They have people who ask specifically for Stephen's fish,” Mary says. “When he's done, there's not a bone left in the meat. They love to see him coming.”
On his best day during Fall Mack Days, he caught 42 fish, eight below the limit, on his second weekend. With 188 fish after two weekends, Stephen led the tournament, and had 15 fish more than Mike Benson of Hot Springs, who will be crowned champion Sunday.
But the lake trout move into shallower water to spawn as Fall Mack Days progress, and those who troll start moving up in the standings. A lure has to pass pretty close to a mack in deep water for it to be seen, but closer to shore, it can attract a lot of attention.
“The fishing changes,” Stephen agrees. “When they start spawning, they get in real shallow water and get thick and aggressive.”
He's been keeping his fish on stringers, and paddling into shore frequently to deposit them in the ice chests he leaves on the beach. But he found a mesh laundry bag to store the fish in that should cut down on those trips and leave him more time to fish.
The teenager has his sights set on an electric trolling motor for his boat, but says he'll still use his one-man pontoon float tube quite a bit. It's easier to control on the many windy days anglers encounter on the lake.
“It's actually more sturdy than a boat, and I don't have to mess with an anchor,” he says. “It's almost impossible to sink, and I haven't seen the wave yet that would swamp it. I'm so light, I ride right up the waves. I think the float tube is sometimes the best way to go, and usually a good way to go.”
He also loves fly fishing, and ice fishing, “but macks top the list,” Stephen says. “Whitefish have more strength, but macks - the way you fish for them, there's more sport to it. It takes a fine touch to jig in deep water.”
For one weekend at least, every other fisherman on the lake was looking at Stephen Naethe's back. There are still only five men ahead of him, and they may be looking over their shoulders.
“He's awful serious about it,” Zimmer says with a smile. “But he'll get over that.”
Reporter Vince Devlin can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at vdevlin@missoulian.com
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