Winter 2022
®
That’s how it is goals and records are. They’re meant to be broken.
WB: What do you have about that myth that you are a “Delta guy”?
MAH: I would say look at the resume. I’ve won two boats at Oroville, two at Clear Lake, a Pro/Am at Shasta, an APEX Tour event the Thermalito Afterbay and I won this last one at a changed venue Berryessa championship. Yes, I have made a career, a majority of my top-10 cuts and a lot of money on the Delta; but when you look at the majors, I’ve won them on other bodies of water.
WB: How do you attribute your laundry list of wins on varying venues to the theory of the versatility of the western anglers?
MAH: Our fisheries are just so diverse, and I think that’s why the western anglers can go back East and do so well. We have clear reservoirs with spotted bass. We have shallow, dark reservoirs with largemouth. We have some of the best smallmouth fisheries in the world, like Pardee and Berryessa. We have Clear Lake and the Delta – world-class largemouth fisheries. We have Shasta – a spotted bass fishery that I would put against any fishery in the country for quality and numbers. When you have that diversity and are required to fish them to compete, you only get better at them, or you fade.
WB: A longtime ago, maybe even 10 years ago or more, we talked, and you said you would never win an Angler of the Year (AOY) trophy, that
anglers like you or Ish or Lintner, you guys fish for the big ones. You hero or zero. There isn’t a lot of in between because you are not fishing for a limit. Do you still feel like that is your mindset?
MAH: I do. At this point, I don’t think anyone questions my fishing ability, but I always say the hardest thing for an angler to do is to get their first top-10 or their first win. It is like getting an 800-pound gorilla off their back. Getting that pressure off your shoulders frees you up mentally. I don’t have to fish for a limit. There are lots of guys that do that for other reasons, for different mindsets, but it’s not really how I do it.
WB: Last time we did a cover story was about 10 years ago. Since that time, how would you say your fishing has evolved?
MAH: I always hear anglers talk about that… how they wish they would’ve known something back then or at that last event or two years ago or whatever/whenever. I feel the most impactful situation that has made a difference for me is participating in the APEX format. At first, I was apprehensive about it because I am a preparer. I am overly organized and like to be prepared. From a practice standpoint there is no preparing, you truly show up to a non-mainstream fishery, put your boat in the water, get 30 minutes to drive around and when the bell rings, it’s for real. It’s happening, right now! Because I am such a preparer, I was afraid of how it would turn out; but fishing is fishing. Getting the first bite is important, but once you get that first or second bite, no matter what, it’s just fishing. Competing with the long off-limits and no practice on foreign bodies of water, just in this one year has made me a better angler. The format of TourneyX, knowing where you stand at
page 20