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PHOTO GALLERIES | 'The Mecca of bass fishing' | Behind the scenes | About the show

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ala. — As a TV crew set up lights and cameras on Ray Scott's deck, Kevin VanDam reflected on his day. He had been fishing a two-on-two tournament with Mark Zona, the host of "World's Greatest Fishing Show." Their opponents were pro anglers Roland Martin and Shaw Grigsby, and the fishery was the 50-acre lake that serves as the backyard of Scott, the founder of BASS.

If you're not familiar with pro bass fishing, allow us to present this as a golf analogy: This foursome would be vaguely akin to Tiger Woods and Jim Nantz playing against Jack Nicklaus and Fred Funk. Then maybe have the whole thing on a course Arnold Palmer designed specifically for his own backyard.

To make that comparison requires you ignore the personalities involved. (And the personalities are considerable.)

It also implies there would be much of anything at stake in this contest. As it turned out, the winners were to receive trophies that would retail for — and this is just a ballpark guess — maybe five bucks each. And bragging rights. Those aren't worth much of anything, unless you get to bust them on your buddies. After watching those five guys for a day, it's clear that's about all they ever do.

Which brings us back to VanDam sitting on that back step. "This reminds me exactly of the Classic in New Orleans in 2001," he said, traveling back to the weigh-in stage at the first Classic he won.

"You don't know how anybody else did or anything," he continued. "You're all sitting there. Nobody knows exactly what anybody's got. You know it's going to be close. And — if you win — it's going to be a career-changing moment. That's what this is, you know?"

"And to me," Zona said, "this is like a Tuesday night derby I fished last summer."

Zona asked that this story not reveal which squad won the competition, because he wants you to watch the shows on April 5 and 12 on ESPN2.

The thinking is that if you know which of these twosomes took home the tiny trophies, you won't turn over part of your Saturday morning to find out.

But it shouldn't matter, so long as the editors of the show include scenes like this one at the dock first thing in the morning: Scott, pointing to Grigsby sitting in a nest of rods — "There's a lot of insecurity involved when a man needs more than two rods, don't you think?"

Grigsby, not missing a beat: "And a shirt that has 'Dick's' on it," referring to the biggest sponsor logo on his jersey.

Or when Zona asked the show's producer, Randy White, before an intro: "You want me to say I'm at the father of bass fishing's house?"

That prompted VanDam to tell Scott: "At least he didn't say 'grandfather.'"

They definitely have to include the opener: Scott, with a shotgun, blasting over the lake. Both teams know enough about the underwater topography of the lake to head for a line of Osage orange.

Zona landed a 3-pounder, crows, and threw the fish right back. With only six fish to keep in a puddle full of donkeys, the anglers figured they couldn't afford to hang onto anything that didn't look like a zeppelin with fins.

Martin then caught a fish justifying this tactic. "Oh, yeah!" Grigsby hollered. "Big ol' pig!"

Scott got off his porch and yelled across the water: "What did he weigh?"

The answer drifts back, from someone: 6 pounds, 11 ounces. Scott's reply: "Oooooh!"

Near the levee, a little later, Zona and VanDam saw a sea monster.

"Oh my gosh, look at the size of that thing!" Zona yells. "You've got a few grass carp in here, don't you?"

"I've got four or five," Scott replies.

VanDam and Zona seemed almost spooked. "That's the biggest grass carp I've ever seen," VanDam says. Later, he estimated that the fish would threaten the world record of 80 pounds.

Zona hauled aboard another fish that would be considered decent by almost any standard. VanDam threw it back into the drink with the same regard he gives dirty sweatpants as he stuffs them in his hamper. Zona hung his head.

After the morning session, Zona said, "This is the biggest event of my life," and, pointing to VanDam, added, "I think I speak for my partner."

The only point at which Zona felt nervous, he said, was "when Roland sprayed us in the face with a 7-pounder." That lunker no doubt made the difference; the score after half a day's fishing was 23-9 for Zona and VanDam, and 26-3 for Martin and Grigsby.

Martin said that if he and Grigsby hung on to win, "It might be my biggest accomplishment ever." Even Scott had to chuckle, knowing that Martin, a 19-time BASS tournament winner, 25-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier, nine-time BASS Angler of the Year winner and inductee into the International Game Fish Association, Freshwater Fishing and Professional Bass Fishing Halls of Fame, was exaggerating somewhat.

Martin also got in this line: "As professional fishermen, we're required to catch big fish every single day, whether we go fishing or not."

Before they returned to the water, VanDam caught Martin talking about how huge his and Grigsby's lead would be if they had landed this fish or that. VanDam summoned his best I-just-whacked-20-pounds-on-Guntersville jaw-jut, aimed his index finger at Martin's face and declared: "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas."

Then Martin lost his hat.

"I lost my hat," he said.

Which is how Scott found out Martin lost his hat.

So Scott offered: "How about a Ray Scott hat? I'll give you a dollar to wear it."

Martin gracefully declined Scott's dollar.

Scott blasted another starting shot, and the teams went fishing. Scott sat on his porch and talked about his lake.

When they all returned, VanDam noticed that Martin had been reading from pictures of the lake.

"They had maps!" VanDam exclaimed. "We had nothing!"

"These maps were free to anyone on the Internet," Martin retorted.

The fish were weighed near the boats while the teams collected on a deck on the other side of the house. Scott got the results and told them: "I have never had a tournament on my lake that's as close as this one turned out."

Grigsby moaned that the fix was in. "It's his show!" Grigsby said. "We don't have a hope."

But Zona felt the same way.

"Remember the field goal kicker for the Buffalo Bills in the '90s?" he said. "I'm very similar to Scott Norwood."

"He couldn't hit his butt with both feet," Scott muttered.

"I know the feeling," Zona said.

Martin changed his tune slightly later in the day, and may have suggested that winning would not in fact constitute the highlight of his professional life. So VanDam summoned his best I-just-sacked-30-pounds-on-Amistad grimace, pointed his finger at Martin's mug, then to the trophy and said: "I'm going to tell you right now? That means everything to me."

This is how the "World's Greatest Fishing Show" celebrated the new year, and marked the 40th anniversary of Scott founding BASS.

We can't tell you who won, but VanDam's greatest line of the day doesn't give it away. As the winners raised their tiny trophies in delirious victory, the two-time Classic winner looked around and asked: "Where are the fireworks?"

PHOTO GALLERIES | 'The Mecca of bass fishing' | Behind the scenes | About the show