3/9/2012
Mark Zona - Nervous about Big Bluegills


There’s a good chance that several of you have seen the show I filmed with my sons catching magnum bluegill at The Kingfisher Society’s lake near Laurel Hill, NC. What you may not have been able to see through the TV is how horribly nervous I was.

See, here’s the deal, I get nervous before every episode we shoot of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show, but when my twin 12-year-old sons Jakob and Hunter were involved I got even more nervous. I don’t care if I fail to catch fish on camera, I’m not afraid to show reality, but you don’t want your 12-year-old sons to fail on camera. We were there to make memories. Good memories.

Turned out, the biggest bluegills I’ve ever seen in my life bit like savage barbarians, and the boys handled themselves on camera way better than I thought they would. And thank goodness, I handled myself way better than I thought I would.


I look at the footage of that show, and I realize the best, the very best thing, my dad ever did for me was put a fishing pole in my hands. As a kid in suburbia Chicago, fishing was my friend. Whether my boys grow up to be fisherman or not, at least I know that by taking them fishing I’ve given them an opportunity to be good humans. Fishing does that.

Fishing creates better human beings, but taking your whole family on a 12-hour road trip down to North Carolina creates a lot of anxiousness. See, when I’m out there on the road as ‘the lone wolf’ (that’s my CB handle), and something mechanical happens when I’m by myself, that’s one thing, but dragging a boat 700 miles with your whole family on board is a whole new bag of anxiety.

The Z Train doesn’t do wrenches. Tools are not my friends. Which is all the more reason, that on that trip, more than any other, I was darn glad I had a BoatU.S. Angler membership card in my billfold. If I have a flat tire, or smoke a trailer hub, I know I can call their toll free number, and those guys will have my back, and that calms the nerves.

As a little side bar -- I hate to watch myself on TV. But, it just so happened; our whole family was over at some friends’ house when that episode aired on The Outdoor Channel, and so were a bunch of girls about the same age as my twins. You shoulda seen those girls diggin’ on Hunter and Jakob while that show was on. My boys can thank me in five years for that.

4/7/2011
Mark Zona - Last Day of Spring Break
Hunter, Jakob and Elite Thoughts

I’ve recently finished filming the final two episodes of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show and I’m home for my last day of spring break with Karin, Hunter and Jakob before I head back to work on the Elite Series at Pickwick Lake.

My final days of filming were set up somewhere in Arkansas, because I wanted to take advantage of the great Midwestern weather that we all love so much in the spring. That plan backfired; in filming those shows, the temperature never got above 44-degrees.



In fact, the whole filming schedule was done in cold weather. Seven of the shows we filmed this year featured water temperatures that were in the mid 40’s. I must say though, that I love a challenge, and with one exception, we rose to the challenge and filmed great episodes; caught some great bass and were happy to put those shows in the can.

That being said, I’ve been there, done that and am not gonna do it for a while. I think I’ve decided that I will have to add some warm weather shoots to the schedule. I’ve always tried to schedule my filming in the offseason between the end of the Elite Series schedule and the Bassmaster Classic, but I’ll have to look at it.

I have to talk about the Elite Series, and the start of the 2011 season. There were some surprises in the first two events, and I have some thoughts overall that I’ll let out of the bag here for a little bit.
Alton Jones and Terry Scroggins sit atop the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings after two events. Those guys had great events in the opening rounds, and they deserve to be where they are; but I’m not sure that they’ll be able to keep up the pace.

For those guys to keep up the pace that they’ve set for themselves means that they’ll have to have the absolute best season of their careers. I’m not sure that they’ll be able to keep it up, and ultimately I think that the AOY race will come down to the obvious choice; KVD and an angler that’s been fishing really well the last few years, and that’s Edwin Evers. Those two guys have started off the season as strong as ever and I anticipate them having strong years.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Skeet Reese is going to do after a slow start at Florida. I think part of it was just the nature of tournament fishing in Florida, and some of it might just have been inevitable when you consider how hot he has been the last several years. I’m sure he’ll find a way to make things interesting and will be making his presence felt by the end of the season.

I’ll also keep talking about the class of rookies that we have on the Elite Series this year, and one of them that is really impressive is Keith Combs. I think Combs is the real deal; he’s articulate, refined and he’s a really good fisherman; I think we’ll be seeing a lot of him in the years ahead.

I want to take a minute to thank my crew on Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show, the guests that helped make it Awesome and the sponsors that help make it happen. This is my seventh year associated with B.A.S.S. and my fourth year doing my own show; and this year has been; well, in a word…awesome; you're all double rainbows to me.

Go Crazy in Zona's world, visit www.markzona.com

3/10/2011
Mark Zona - Spring and New Blood
Dirt?

Before I get too far ahead of myself; let’s do a little Bassmaster Classic wrap up. Because this is the first chat we’ve had since the big ol’ battle on the bayou happened; I’ll give my two cents worth.

It was a neat Classic. That’s it, there’s my two cents worth… I’m kidding. When have you ever known me to keep quiet about something? But, I digress. The tournament was amazing; everything we thought it could be, and then some.

Between the Classic and running around to Bass Pro Shops Spring Fishing Days appearances, I’ve been busy planning out the final two shoots of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show. Okay, planning isn’t the word; I try not to plan anything.



Seriously, ask the crew. They’ve been asking me where we’re going filming in a couple weeks, and I still don’t know. I like to keep ‘em guessing.
Now, I’m really excited about three things; the start of the Elite Series season, the rookie class in the Elite Series and dirt.

I’ll take them in order.

The Elite Series means I get to hang out with Tommy Sanders, who is one of the smartest guys, and also one of the biggest nut jobs I know. Trust me; I think if any of you saw what goes on behind the scenes with him, you’d agree that he’s partly to blame for me being the way that I am.

Seriously though, he’s a true professional and working with him never gets old.
As far as the rookies go, I think this could be the best rookie class we’ve ever had in the Elite Series. Thus far, the best class we had was in 2007 with guys like Derek Remitz, Casey Ashley, James Niggemeyer, and Jason Williamson.

This one could be better.

Andy Montgomery, Keith Combs, Ott Defoe make this a tough class, and then you throw in a little Johnny VanDam and Brandon Palaniuk and it could be good.

A word about Palaniuk; I think the kid is a breath of fresh air. He handled himself masterfully at the Classic, and for him to have the sense of marketing and presence he does after growing up in Idaho; which isn’t exactly the center of the bass fishing universe is amazing.

Anyway, on to the third reason I’m excited; dirt. You all think I’m a little out there, so I’ll assure you; I am. But, if you lived in Michigan, or most of the Midwest; you’d understand.

There’s an aroma in the air around here that just starts to arrive this time of year; and that is the aroma of dirt. When the snow starts to melt and the earth starts to break through; it means the fishing is going to get good.

Ask any Midwestern angler and they’ll tell you that they’ve had to break some ice to get on the water, but the fishing can be really good. I loathe winter,
I like summer, and the fall is alright (mainly because of Bear’s football) but, the spring really gets me sprung, and the smell of dirt tells me it’s here.

Ready to get your mind twisted? Visit Zona's Awesome Fishing Show at www.markzona.com

2/14/2011
Mark Zona: The Toughest Test


Now that I’m back from the Super Bowl and thinking about the Super Bowl of bass fishing, I think this could be the toughest Bassmaster Classic we’ve seen in a long time.

Not that the fishing is going to be tough, I think the fishing isn’t going to be good. The Louisiana Delta is one of my favorite places to go; I love fishing there. It’s just that this tournament has a lot of different variables.

The first thing is the size of the fishery. The anglers can just about go hundreds of miles in any direction, and that means that just about anything can happen.
Secondly, the time of the year is different and that’s going to make a difference as well. In the past they were summer tournaments, and you could count on summer weather, summer patterns and summer heat. The weather this time of the year will bring totally different considerations.

The cold water coming down the Mississippi river could be a problem and also the cold water with the warm air could bring with it fog; which can take entire sections out of the field completely.

Water changes by the minute on the Delta. This place changes everything about what you do. How you drive, where you fish, how you fish and how you get there. The easiest way to say it is this is not going to be a normal Classic, it’s going to be a grinder tournament at its best.

Then of course people are always asking me who I think is going to win. Because of it being grind, I look for guys like Rook, Hackney, Pace, and Evers to do well, and I’m not going with KVD or Skeet because that’s too easy.

What I’m really looking forward to is getting away from the rest of the media and really talking to these guys about what they think. I read their demeanor and their body language, which helps give me a clue as to what they are thinking. This place is made for those flat liners, the guys who show no emotions and have the ability to shut down all the distractions.

I’m looking forward to the tournament starting as the television crew; this is our busiest week of the year. It’s when we get to showcase the best of what we do. It’s kind of like getting finals week out of the way first, then I get to spend the rest of the year screwing with Sanders.

See you in New Orleans.

2/3/2011
Mark Zona is Buried
Big Snow - Planes, Trains and Automobiles with KVD

We got smashed with that monster storm that’s hit the rest of the country, that thing was a dandy; one of the top 10 I’ve ever seen.

It brought with it some interesting side notes. My boys, Jakob and Hunter have been off of school for the past day and a half, and Karin is down and out with a stomach flu. Basically, I’ve been Mr. Mom for the past two days, and I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m not good at it; at all.

I’ve recovered from my heartache over the Bears losing in the NFC Championship game. However, unfortunately, I probably owe more money from bets with the Mercury Marine marketing department than I’d care to count.

I’ve got two tickets to the Super Bowl, and if Karin is feeling better, we’ll be there, rooting for the Steelers. I grew up on the south side of Chicago, and there’s no way I’m rooting for the Packers. Where I come from, you’re born with a gene that would not allow that. In fact if my kids ever said they loved the Packers; I’d consider disowning them.

I went through a real life Planes, Trains and Automobiles scenario with Kevin VanDam on our way to and from a Bass Pro Shops appearance in Florida last weekend. What was supposed to be a 12 hour trip, turned out to be more like a three day expedition. Of course, we’re bros, and although I love him like a brother; we were both sick of each other by the time we got home.

What was really cool about it was spending time with Kevin listening to him while we were stranded; it was kind of like my own private seminar. You’d better believe that I grill him with all kinds of questions about why he chooses what lure for given situations when we’re alone.

Anyway, Kevin is still a guy that is in love with his sport. We spent two and a half hours stranded on a plane looking through a Bass Pro Shops catalog – page by page. It’s nice to see that he still gets fired up about fishing, and that new things in a catalog can make him stop and take notice.

The cool thing is that I can share some light line tactics with him that he can actually pick up some tips from occasionally. I mean, while we were sitting there waiting after another missed plane, we talked about a drop shot bait for two hours; what a couple of geeks.

Well, the Bassmaster Classic is getting very close, and I am looking forward to it. For those of us at B.A.S.S. it’s a grinder. This is kind of like our finals week, and it’s really cool to get our Super Bowl in the books as our first tournament.

First of all, it’s getting our most difficult production schedule out of the way right off the bat; which means I can spend the rest of the Elite Series schedule goofing off with Tommy Sanders. Secondly, it really does create a true explosion of interest in the sport.

The Classic really does get people fired up, and it wakes the industry and the fans up from a long winter off. I guarantee you that there will be hundreds of thousands of folks fired up to go home and hook onto their bass boat to go fishing after that tournament.

This Classic could be one of the most interesting one’s yet, and I’ll get into my reasons why in our next chat.

To get more awesome, visit Mark Zona and his Awesome Fishing Show on the web at: www.markzona.com

1/25/2011
Zona's Awesome Blog - Three Weeks Filming
Chavez, The Legend and "Kevin"

I just finished a three show shoot for Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show this week, and I’m not gonna lie to ya’; my ass is draggin. The Z-Train’s runnin’ outta coal.

We’ve just finished filming a show at Sam Rayburn, one at Toldeo Bend, and another in Little Rock. The best way to describe them was that two of them were blowouts, and the other was a 6-3 grinder at Soldier Field. It was cold, and I want to say that I got a suntan, but I think it’s more like wind burn.

In Texas I fished with Jason Reyes, whom I call “Chavez,” we’re like brothers. I also fished with “The Legend” Harold Allen, and the truth is, I’m Harold re-incarnated; we’re the same, only a few years apart. Then, I went to Little Rock to do a shoot with Kevin Short, whom I simply call “Kevin.”



One of them was an old school blast, I had four GLoomis Flippin’ Sticks on the deck and I’m not kidding when I say this, I had a hundred torn up Rage Tail Lizards on the boat. Gotta call up Strike King - "Hey Chris Brown, I need some more Lizards." That shoot was a blast, I was like a slightly more tolerant, slightly more overweight version of Tommy Biffle; we pounded them.

We went to those lakes as kind of an old school nod to the lakes that made Texas famous. Nowadays the glamour lakes are Fork, Choke Canyon, Amistad and Falcon, and we wanted to show that the other lakes are still awesome, and I think we did that.

Now that these shoots are over, I’ll be able to turn my focus to the Bassmaster Classic because the majority of our 2011 season is in the can. I’ll have a couple more shoots in March around the spawn, but we’ll be looking ahead to New Orleans and the Classic mainly.



I’ll still be doing a few appearances with Kevin VanDam at Bass Pro Shops until then, but, my mind is already drifting to the swamp.

The football season is over now that the Bears are out of the playoffs. At the beginning of the season, me, Jakob and Hunter write down our predictions for the Super Bowl, and I wrote down the Steelers and the Packers; I wish I was wrong. I have tickets to the Super Bowl, and it would have been fun to see the Bears instead of the Cheese heads, but I’ll still have fun.

I’m highly bummed that I wasn’t at home to watch the game with my boys, they asked if I was going to make it, and I told them I didn’t think so. Oh well, I was there to mourn with them on Monday. I only have five words to say about the Bear’s and Packer’s game the other day; Jay Cutler, emotion and leadership, that’s all I have to say about that.

Now that I’m home, I’m cold again; Karin just told me the temperature is about eight degrees.

www.markzona.com

1/13/2011
Mark Zona - Blow and Go in the Snow
Cleaning Driveways and Pounding Bass

I’m getting tired of this crap!

I’ve been snow blowing this &*(#$%! driveway for the past five days and I’m ready to go off like Urlacher on a ball carrier. Whew! I feel better now, thanks for listening.

Anyway, I was looking forward to getting out of the snow for some filming of Zona's Awesome Fishing Show down south but I called an audible and had them meet me in Central Illinois. (I like to keep my crew guessing until the last possible minute).



I’d been told about this power plant lake in Effingham, Ill. called Newton Lake, and I finally decided that the weather where I’d been planning to go was bad, and we needed to try Illinois. Don’t ask, I’ve already told you about my ADD.

Anyway, we met Johnny VanDam, you know the nephew of that other VanDam, and he too thought I was crazy for choosing Illinois for filming. I’ve always wanted to do a show in the snow, I thought it would look really cool on camera, and despite the rumbling concerns over my sanity amongst the “talent” and crew; I showed them.



Newton is a power plant lake, and even though the air temperature was 22 degrees when we slid the Nitro in the lake, and 23 when we got off the water, we pounded them. I mean beat them like a rented mule, whipped them with… you get the picture.

The water temperature was 74, and these fish ate everything, Strike King Spittin’ King’s, Red Eye Shad’s, Tour Grade Jigs; anything and everything we threw at them. It was snowing all around us and we were busting them over the heads with topwater; it was awesome. Our best five went about 21 pounds, but we caught piles of them.

It was weird though, almost like a taping of the bass fishing Twilight Zone. The cold weather and the snow are telling me to slow down and lighten up, but the fish are crushing reaction baits and jigs; it was a little dizzying.



After the filming I came home and started packing up to drive to Little Rock to meet the crew from JM and Associates to go on a three week filming excursion. I never know where we’re going to go until we get there, but I think its fun.

My cameraman Wes Miller might disagree. He’s a true professional, truly the best in his business. I’m reminded of that all the time when I turn around and realize that it’s Wes behind the lens. He’s one of the hardest working guys on tour.

In fact, every time I hear one of these guys start to (translate “these guys” as “myself”) complain about their back hurting, I think of Wes and the fact that he’s been holding a 50 pound camera on his shoulder for 15 years, doing everything the pros are; it makes me think twice… I mean puts it into perspective for the anglers.

Between then and now, I’ve got appearances set up for the boat shows this weekend at the Bass Pro Shops in Gurnee, Ill. on Saturday and Portage, Ind. on Sunday. Totally looking forward to being there and meeting fans and customers, but can’t believe I have to work through a Bear’s playoff game.

I hope somebody brings me a TV.

www.markzona.com

1/5/2011
Mark Zona - Time to Get Busy
Filming ZAFS and Thinking About the Classic

I call the Christmas break my summer vacation, and it’s almost over. It’s time to strap on the helmet and go.

I’ve got several sports shows lined up end to end, and a bunch of Bass Pro Shops in store promotions that I’ll be doing here, and that signifies the start of the busy season. Over the next couple of months I’ll do my best to stay focused on ZAFS, but the Classic usually grabs my attention; it is the really big deal in our sport.

Before I can get out in the public and relate to the people, I’m hooking the Z9 up tomorrow and heading out for some filming of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show. I’m on my way to Louisiana to film some shows before we head down there for the Classic. Aside from the fact that I love fishing the Louisiana Delta, I’m also looking forward to being somewhere warmer than six-degrees.


Speaking of trying to stay focused, my ADD is really kicking in, I’m trying to “plan” our filming for the trip but as usual, I’m more or less winging it. My approach usually ends up with the type of show I like, but it can be a real nightmare for planning.

I’ll film a couple of shows in the swamp, and no they won’t be guest appearances on “Swamp People;” especially because Greg Hackney can’t go on the water there until official practice.

Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show premiered on the Outdoor Channel on New Year’s Eve, and I’ve been flattered by the feedback I’ve received from people about the show, it’s been really humbling to hear what everyone loved about it.

We’ve got some great shows coming up on ZAFS to follow the premier episode. I go fishing with Jeff Kriet and try to help rehab him from his 2010 Classic loss. I’ve also got a show in the lineup with Aaron Martens, which is totally self explanatory.

I will say this about Aaron; I’m truly in awe of the way he fishes. Partly because of how much I love light line fishing myself, but also because of his attention to detail and how natural he is in his craft. The scary thing is, I actually understand much of what he says, the rest is above my head.

The bottom line about all of our shows is that I never quite know what the hell is going to happen; some are going to be good, and a few will wind up being dogs, but I try to avoid as many of those as I can.

That’s the nice thing about doing The Bassmasters with Tommy Sanders, he makes all of them good.

I’ll be talking with you next time from the soft water of the south, I’m done with ice fishing for a while, I’m getting to be too old to be digging holes in the ice.

To find out more about Mark Zona - If you can handle it - visit: www.markzona.com

12/28/2010
Zona's Awesome Blog
A New Beginning

We’re getting ready for the New Year’s Eve 8:00PM Eastern Time Premier of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show on the Outdoor Channel. For anyone who was a fan of World’s Greatest Fishing Show, this is different; Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show is a bass fishing show.

We’ve been filming episodes of the show for much of the fall, but if you think that’s all I’ve been up to, ha-ha, you’ve got another thing comin’ my friend.

I’ve been down to Little Rock for some meetings with Jerry McKinnis. I got a chance to hear some of his plans, and I’m really excited about where he is taking it. No, I can’t tell you any of them; I’ve been sworn to secrecy.

Anyone can imagine it hasn’t been an easy thing for me; I’ve been known to talk a lot. But, over the past few years I’ve developed the approach of doctor / client privilege, and I think I could almost be a counselor.

Anyway, as far as the future of B.A.S.S. goes, I think we’re pretty lucky to have Jerry and his partners running the show, there’s a lot of good things in the works.

This time of year is always a little odd for me; I have to admit to dealing with a little anxiety. I travel enough with the Elite Series and filming my show that I have a little trouble slowing down. But, I have my three best friends around to help take the edge off.

It may sound a little cliché, but my favorite people in the world are my wife Karin and our twin sons Jakob and Hunter. We huddle around the TV for football Sundays; we are huge Chicago Bears fans and we play a lot of Texas Hold ‘em. My kids have become awesome players; yes, I like to bring ‘em up young.

We also have a lot of family traditions here in Michigan, which are basically finding new ways to screw around. The latest is “The Running of the Beast.” The tradition involves Hunter, a football, and Jakob running through the snow with nothing but shorts on, we filmed it and put it on my website; markzona.com.

Hopefully the result won’t be Child Protective Services showing up at our door. Even if they did, it would probably be Karin’s problem anyway, by the time they got around to it. We’ve heard from a lot of people that they are going to get into the Running of the Beast, and I’m sure there will be some adults taking their turns too.

Back to Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show for a minute, my first episode is with Kevin VanDam, who’s been one of my best friends for a long time. I will say this about him, along with being a great angler; he’s a great friend and a great competitor. But, there’s a small percentage of him that’s like the Tom Hanks character in the movie Big, and that comes out on this episode. Yes ladies and gentlemen, KVD sings on the premier of ZAFS. Not for long, but he does.

This episode will set a tone for the show, as I do my best to take these guys; the best anglers in the sport, and break them down to the amateur level. I do everything I can to show them in a different light; that they’re not the robots everyone sees when they’re competing on The Bassmasters.

I’m excited about where things are headed, and can’t wait for them to get started.

For more about the wacky zaniness that is Mark Zona, visit him on the web at www.markzona.com
<>br Zona's Awesome Fishing Show starts New Years even 2010!