QA &
By Justin Onslow
PHOTO BY CHARLES WALDORF
It ’ s been over a month since you took down a $ 247,500 prize on Lake Cumberland . At the time , you told me it might take a little while for it to really sink in . Is it that time yet ?
I mean , it has sunk in , no doubt . You still get the heebie-jeebies just talking about it . It was definitely a special occasion , a special time . I ’ m blessed to have the opportunity to do that for sure .
You weren ’ t sure about your plans for fishing competitively in 2021 . With that money in the bank and your Phoenix dealership chugging right along , do you think you ’ ll take a crack at defending your newly minted title this season ?
I ’ m looking at some dates . The fishing this year just doesn ’ t line up what I fished last year as far as timing . It ’ s just bad timing with a couple tournaments in the middle of the week in the spring . It ’ s hard for me to get away from the dealership , but there ’ s a good chance I might run down to fish Dale Hollow and maybe even jump into the Northern Division this year and try to qualify for the championship through the Northerns .
Have you fished many of the lakes that are on the Northern schedule this year ?
I ’ ve fished all of them . Nice lakes . A little bit of a longer drive for me , for sure , but I ’ ve fished all the Northern schedule before .
What ’ s changed for you since that fateful few days on Cumberland ? Other than your bank account , of course .
A little bit of demands on my time . I really wasn ’ t prepared for the time and questions and podcasts and things of that nature . But nothing ’ s changed much . I ’ m still going to work every day , and every day I ’ m not going to work I ’ m trying to come down to Cumberland or Dale Hollow and try to catch bass . It hasn ’ t changed a whole lot , but it has been a gift , that ’ s for sure .
Do you enjoy doing the podcasts and the interviews and talking to people or is it kind of weird for you ?
The podcasts and stuff are great . I ’ m not the best public speaker , but when I can sit in my own chair and talk through the phone or the computer , it ’ s great . I did one with [ MLF Editors ] Jody White and Kyle Wood and I did one with BassFan . Those guys are professionals .
Have you been fishing Cumberland much since the Toyota Series Championship ?
I fished there almost the entire week from Christmas to New Year ’ s . I went down the day after Christmas and stayed until a couple days after New Year ’ s and fished almost every day in that time . I caught some really good fish .
It ’ s your favorite lake , right ? Is there a close second ?
Dale Hollow . Dale Hollow is a pretty special place . That ’ s where I originally wanted to look for a retirement home , but it ’ s just a little undeveloped for my wife . She likes being in the Somerset and Burnside [ Kentucky ] area , and there ’ s a little bit more to do . Cumberland and Dale Hollow are both special places to me , though .
You have a special relationship with Cumberland for sure . And speaking of relationships , your friendship with Ryan Davidson was a big talking point when you won the Championship .
He ’ s about the only person I can find as dumb as I am to come out here in the wintertime for us to catch bass . He showed me an awful lot about wintertime fishing . Chris Malone doesn ’ t win the Championship without help from Ryan Davidson . He ’ s going to get his this year [ on the Pro Circuit ]. I ’ ve lost a little bit of that drive . He ’ s got it . I ’ m going to sit back and watch him come up and collect some big checks .
So you ’ ll be living a little vicariously through him .
Absolutely . I ’ ll put the pressure on him after the first day if he ain ’ t got ‘ em .
How ’ s the house ? Is the dream of that being your retirement home getting a little closer to being a reality ?
I wouldn ’ t say retirement ’ s any time soon , but I will say a less-hour work week is definitely on the horizon . I ’ m definitely going to spend a bunch of time fishing . We were there for a week over Christmas and on Dale Hollow for three or four days this week , and I have a championship tournament on Cumberland in about two more weeks . We ’ re getting use out of it , that ’ s for sure , but as far as retirement , I don ’ t see that any time soon . There will be some Mondays and Fridays that I definitely won ’ t be around the shop , though .
When that time comes , what ’ s retirement going to look like for Chris Malone ? Other than fishing a bunch , of course .
That ’ s about it ( laughs ). I ’ ll be on the shores of Lake Cumberland and doing a lot of fishing . I ’ ve been down here for about a year and a half . We found a couple circuits and fished down here all winter . That ’ s the good thing about Cumberland . There ’ s competitive fishing year-round and I don ’ t have that around the house .
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