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Summer 2022
page 60
VanDam’s Classic wins stretch over his career of a quarter-century.
Martin’s eight was earned through more than two decades of professional fishing and they come from 182 events fished.
With these facts in mind, I wondered what’s to be said about a win in not one, not two, not three, but four majors in a span of nine months?
Incredible? Amazing? Absolutely unbelievable?!
If Vegas would’ve laid odds on a four-time champion in as short of timespan as that, on four different bodies of water in a circuit of the Best in the West, I may have bet my lifesavings. It just doesn’t seem possible – something akin to the improbability of Jordan Lee winning back-to-back Bassmaster Classics (2017, 2018) after qualifying for his first only three years earlier, while in college in 2014.
When doing angler interviews, I often hear the humble ones attribute their success to luck, and yes there is some luck involved sometimes; but when REPEATEDLY interviewing the same anglers for their finishes, it becomes obvious that skill and experience sets them apart.
In the case of hoisting the trophies from four majors in less than a year, there is only one angler that can boast such an accomplishment – Ken Mah on the APEX Pro Tour.
MAH’S HARDWARE COMES FROM:
• August 2021 – APEX Cup on the Thermalito
Afterbay
• November 2021 – Wild West Bass Trail Pro/
Am Championship on the California Delta
• November 2021 – APEX Cup Pro Tour
Championship on Lake Berryessa
• May 2022 – APEX Pro Tour on Columbia
River
So, what does this gamut of fisheries and range of seasons have in common? One thing – Mah was the victor.
Mah credits two specific things for his ability to close out the wins – trust and mindset.
“I’ve had previous events where I was leading or I
even had the fish hooked
to win; but I
couldn’t do it,”
he said. “In
2016, at Lake
Mead, I had a
two-pound
lead going
into the last
day and I did
NOT trust
myself and I
couldn’t close
it. I feel like if I