Summer 2023
®
S
o, I love football! Yes, that’s not the normal
opening line for the cover story in a bass fishing
mag; but it is relevant; so, stick with me here. For those like me that follow the NFL, John Madden
was a household celebrity and even for those that didn’t,
gamers will know the Madden name from way back –
potentially as far back as the Apple IIE, Sega Genesis, or
Super Nintendo. Truly a name that crosses generations.
Arguably one of the greatest – a Hall of Famer – a
true legend – John Madden – a broadcaster, a player, and
a record-setting head coach for Oakland led the Raiders
to the playoffs eight of his 10 seasons and took them to
their first Super Bowl win. He held the highest winning
percentage in league history for coaches that have won
100 games.
Again, you ask what does this have to do with bass
fishing?
Well, today I interviewed APEX Pro Tour angler Ken
Mah for his third cover on WesternBass. A full trio of
covers from one mag – this is a significant feat in and of
itself!
Covers are only four a year and there is always an
attempt to spread them out through anglers, so a reason
to grant a third had to be a very special circumstance.
Ken has claimed two. His first in 2012, because he
was already one of the western notables. His second,
a decade later in the Winter 2022 issue, spotlighting an
amazing 2021 season with three major wins. He would
not have been considered for another.
There has only been one other western angler to
make two covers – Bub Tosh. Tosh originally graced the
cover in 2012 as well and was granted his second cover
after an awe-inspiring year with four wins in his 2018 season.
So back to the Madden connection.
As I mentioned, Madden took the Raiders to their first Super Bowl championship. “They can never take it away from you,” Madden said of that win. Ken and I had a similar convo regarding his most recent conquest as the first-ever Western Bass Shootout champion. The gist of that was me saying, “you may not recall who won the Bassmaster Classic two years ago, the California Open eight years ago, the U.S. Open 20 years ago, the FLW Delta in 2010, but you always remember the first.” And Ken Mah was the first, etching his name in the western bass angling history books.
But that’s not the whole story.
Madden was well-known for once saying, “Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something, Always have class and be humble.”
He couldn’t have described Ken Mah any clearer. Ken is a winner. He stands for the good and the growth of the sport of bass fishing.
Since the day I personally met him at an FLW tournament on the Delta, he stood out for his display of class among others, and he is definitely on the short list for ultra-humble – not just this time, not just this season, not just this tournament – but always.
His humility always shines through and as we chopped it up about this prominent success, it was noticeable that Ken is not too affected by his victory, his “first-ever” status.
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