Summer 2022
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would’ve trusted myself and my decisions, I could have won that.”
Mead wasn’t the only event that stands out to Mah as a loss due to his own mistrust. A Delta FLW in 2015, weighs on his mind.
“It was May, and I was catching reaction fish – cranks and Chatters in an area where I had historically NOT fished,” he said. “I found these fish the day before the tournament started, in practice. I found ‘em in three little 65- to 100-ft stretches.
“In the tournament, the wind blew, and it blew hyacinth and covered up the banks I was on, so I couldn’t present my bait properly and I didn’t trust myself enough to go fish other stretches in that area. Now today, seven years later, I know those three stretches aren’t even the best stretches in the area. When I analyze that, I look at it as trust has ascended in my own self to not make that mistake again.”
The APEX format of no practice and lesser-known fisheries, coupled with the caliber of competition are what Mah attributes his ascension of trust – his growth to.
“When I’m fishing, that’s what forces me to extract my best at every minute, of every hour, of every day,” he added. “And that’s what I love about APEX and the field of competitors in APEX. Not every one of the best anglers of the West are in the field; but collectively it is the strongest qualifying field of the West, there is.”
The mindset that Mah has developed relates to his current weight/position in an event.
“I’ve come to understand that being in the lead on the final day doesn’t matter,” he said. “To close out a win, my mindset had to change “Now, I know I want – I need – to be one manageable bite away from the win. That’s when I truly have an opportunity for the win. When it’s only one bite away. •
“When you’re five bites away, that’s not an opportunity to win. If I calculate I need 60-pounds pounds to win and I have 48-pounds, I need 12. When I start the day, I still have zero and I still need 12. That’s not an opportunity to win. I may have put myself in the best position to win, but that’s not the opportunity to win. After my years of experience, my mindset is … the opportunity to win is when I have the fish in the boat that puts me one manageable bite away from victory and that mindset and trusting myself is what’s made the difference in my ability to close out a win.”
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