 | World's Greatest Fishing Show Airs each Saturday July through September at 7:30 a.m. |
THE BLOG
Blog calendar: Show 8 | Show 7 | Show 6 | Show 5 | Show 4 | Show 3 | Show 2 | Show 1
Randy White — Producer
Before I get going about this show... I need to get this off my chest. There is a lot of pressure producing the WORLD'S GREATEST FISHING SHOW! Talk about living up to expectations. But soon after I was given the title of this new show, I was told who the host was going to be... Mark Zona. Wow...pressure off, this is going to be a prime time grand slam!*
What most people don't know about Z**, this guy can fish. We've all seen him talk on Loudmouth Bass and on the Bassmasters with Tommy Sanders but until you've watched this guy fish, you can't appreciate his true talent.
The other thing you can't appreciate is how much he loves to be on the water. While taping this series I have seen this guy so geeked out when he's catching fish that he can't even talk straight. That is usually a problem when you're hosting a fishing show on ESPN... but you know what? It works, Zona's enthusiasm is contagious. If you didn't already want to get off the couch and go fishing... you will by the end of the show.
Let's get back to the title, the WORLD'S GREATEST FISHING SHOW. I'm sure many viewers will look at that title and think... "What the heck? Did Barnum and Bailey just get into the fishing business?" Well that comparison is closer than you might think. With a title that outrageous, you can't take yourself too seriously and this show doesn't. It's about the fun and excitement you feel when you get the opportunity to catch a bass. It's also about giving you the information you need to get that feeling. It's a simple as that.
Now it's time to get into the first show. Zona wanted to kick this thing off by letting you into his world. He grew up living in Chicago but spent his summers in Michigan, which is where his dad put a rod in his hand and Mark's*** life was forever altered. Z took the rod and never looked back. In fact, the very day he graduated high school he moved to Michigan so he could fish.
It wasn't long before he discovered the amazing smallmouth fishing that the northern tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula offered. And it won't be long until you discover it for yourself... just watch the first show.
I was blown away with the fishing; the average size smallmouth was 4 pounds, which is like averaging 7 pound largemouth! I will be the first to admit that I am no Mark Zona when it come to catching bass... actually I'm pretty sure that I'm not even as good as his seven year old twin sons. But Zona showed me and the crew a thing or two about catching fish... which we did... Trust me when I write this, we can't wait until the WORLD'S GREATEST FISHING SHOW returns to northern Michigan.
*OK who am I fooling... we all know when it airs, let's call it a Saturday morning home run.
**You will notice that I will never refer to him as Mark, it doesn't seem to fit.
***OK I did it.
Randy White — Producer
This was a very strange shoot to plan. In fact, this thing changed directions more than my daughter's tennis ball when she's playing fetch with her pet labradoodle. It all started simple enough; go to South Carolina's Santee Cooper Reservoir and sight fish for big largemouth … just like those Bassmaster Elite Series Pros did when Preston Clark broke the record for total weight in a tournament. But sometimes plans are made to be changed.
Zona called me one day and mentioned that one of his best friends, outdoor writer Rob Newell, was going to be in the area. He would be the perfect guest. Great! Things are just falling into place for us.
But a little later … We realized that Newell was there because he was covering a 200 boat tournament on Santee Copper the same week we planned on shooting! Not so great.
A little later … Zona became concerned that we would miss the window for the spawn. You see, South Carolina was having a real warm spring. We might risk showing up the week after all those big bass left their beds. Once again … not so great.
All of a sudden the pressure of producing the World's Greatest Fishing Show was starting to build … and the World's Greatest fishing plan was starting to look like the World's Greatest train wreck! Do we panic? NO. Do we run away? ABSOLUTELY!
You see the great thing about that area of South Carolina is that you have options. And option "B" was just few miles up Interstate 26 …Lake Murray here we come! It was a perfect solution. No tournaments and the spawning season traditionally runs a week or two behind Santee Copper. Great! We are back on track and open for sight fishing business!
A little later … we got punched in the gut.
Remember when I told you about all that warm weather? Well we arrived the same week as a big time cold front. We are talking lows in the 30's. Not exactly great news for sight fishermen …
So what do you do? Zona's schedule is incredibly busy; so when you get a few days open to fish … you get up and go! And that is exactly what we did.
So what was the final result? Well you might be surprised at what Zona and Rod ended up doing. Just imagine yourself getting two days to fish with your best friend … What would you do?
Randy White — Producer
One of our main objectives on the WORLD'S GREATEST FISHING SHOW is to showcase great destinations that anyone can easily get to and easily catch fish on. Of course finding the right combination of the two is easier said than done. That's why I was so intrigued when Zona started to tell me about Presque Isle Bay. It was almost as if he was giving up a secret … and you know how fishermen love to keep secrets. Don't get me wrong … I'm not saying no one has ever heard about this fishery, area fishermen have known about it for years, but Z wanted to give this destination to the masses. In fact it was one of the first trips we planned for the season.
What makes Presque Isle so unique is that when you time it right, we were there in mid-May; you can get out and spend the day fishing for largemouth or smallmouth. Of course, you can always do as Zona and his guest, Bassmaster Elite Series Pro Frank Scalish, did and catch both … and really why wouldn't you?
Speaking of Frank Scalish … or as Zona calls him "Uncle Frank", (where that came from I have no idea) Frank is one of those guys that you love to spend the day with. The guy can quote more movie lines than anyone I have ever met, but regardless of his likeability and the fact that he knows every line from "Anchorman" I still have a beef with him. Frank, I am warning the world … never let "Frank the Tank" con you into a friendly game of darts! Trust me … the crew and I took that beating so you won't have to.
On the other hand, anytime "Uncle Frank" offers to take you steelhead fishing … jump at the chance. Fly fishing is a passion of his and he took Z out to one of the nearby creeks … and if you haven't seen Mark Zona in a pair of waders roll casting nymphs, well all I can say is you are in for a show. Remember that movie "A River Runs Through It" … this ain't that. I got to give him credit though, he was certainly out of his element but the man can not resist the temptation of catching a fish … any fish.
You know what? That's why Zona is the perfect host for this show. Just watch and you'll see what I'm saying.
Randy White — Producer
When "WORLD'S GREATEST" is leading your title … obviously there are great expectations following it. But what does that mean? What do you look for? Well, when it comes to bass fishing … we thought the biggest known largemouth bass in the world fit the bill. So we jumped on a plane and went to Escondido, California's Dixon Lake to see for ourselves just where the biggest bass ever hooked calls home.
Of course, we did try to time the trip so we might have a chance to see the giant fish up shallow to spawn. Did we really think we'd see her caught on tape? We knew the odds? Zona was more likely to be the next American Idol singing his moving rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" … than actually hooking up with the world record largemouth. But you just never know, the lake is small and Zona is a powerful singer.
And when I say the lake is small, I mean the lake is very small and very busy. In fact it was shocking to see the little 76 acre municipal lake up close. The day we arrived, the parking lots were full, the picnic tables were piled high with food and a ton of families were out just enjoying the day. I doubt 90% of the people using the park even new what was potentially swimming just a cast away from shore.
But we did, and we were meeting the three guys who showed the world that the fish actually existed, Mac Weakley, Jed Dickerson and Mike Winn. They have an amazing story to tell and they were willing to show us exactly what they do and what they use to catch giant bass. We were enrolled in the course of Southern California Trophy Bass Hunting 101.
So armed with the right location, the right guides and the right gear … we were ready to jump on a boat and test the waters. I must admit it was pretty exciting; the anticipation was like we were living in a powder keg and giving off sparks.
That was until we jumped into one of the tin cans that they make you use … actually I guess they were aluminum cans. They do not allow gas powered boats on the lake, so those beautiful and stable fishing platforms we call bass boats were out of the question. Instead we spent the day fishing from small electric powered aluminum rentals that were good and solid, but not exactly ideal for shooting television. Every time bight eyes turned around, the boat would get a little tippy for Ryan the cameraman.
But that didn't stop us for a second in our quest to get the inside scoop on the art of catching a record class bass. And trust me … nothing makes you forget that the big beautiful 25 pound fish was released right back into the lake and she just might be swimming underneath you at any given moment. Did we get to see the giant? I'm sure you might have your guess, but you'll still have to watch to find out. Regardless, we'll be holding on forever … and we'll only be making it right.
Randy White — Producer
I have a confession to make … sometimes my job doesn't seem like work. Sometimes my job is down right fun. Of course I have spent my career trying to convince people of the exact opposite, but it's very hard to convince someone that producing fishing shows for a living isn't one of the greatest jobs in the world … so I give up. Forget the hassles, the deadlines, the travel, the long hours, the stress … I love my job and I'll tell you why.
Take the shoot we did on Lake Erie for example, Zona kept telling me that if conditions were right we could catch more smallmouth than "Pudge" Rodriguez could catch fastballs in a doubleheader. Well the day we got there, the conditions were right. We found ourselves in the middle of a full blown smashfest. The fishing was so good it was stupid, it got to the point that we knew we had more fish catches than we could ever use. It got to the point that we knew we could put down the cameras and pick up rods of our own. It got the point that the "World's Greatest Fishing Show" simply became one of the world greatest days on the water fishing with friends. Days like that … are why I love my job.
I think I can speak for the crew as well. We had two great cameramen on that trip, Mark Pelizzoni and Ryan Moore. Mark is the guy that seems to show up on the show quite often. If you watch … he's the one always holding that steering wheel with a camera on it. Mark ended up working twice as hard that day. You see, before we had the show shot, the second camera went down. Suddenly we were depending on Pel to cover all the fishing. Which wasn't a problem, that's his job and he's good at it. Of course once the cameras are put away he won't let a perfect opportunity pass him by... absolutely he's going to pick up a rod. But that's not where this story is going.
This story is going over to the chase boat, the boat with the second camera. That is where cameraman Ryan Moore was. He had a problem … his camera wasn't working. So what do you do when you are one of the best smallmouth fisheries in the world with nothing else to do? You guessed it, Ryan and our boat driver Dave Trautman went fishing.
Now Ryan was certainly the most accomplished angler in the crew that week, but being from Oklahoma his biggest smallmouth was only about 21/2 pounds. Since we were on Lake Erie it didn't take a genius to figure out that he could do better than that, but no one expected to see what Ryan put in his livewell that day.
Before I go on … you need to know that we were fishing out of Buffalo, New York. The New York state record smallmouth is 8 pounds and 4 ounces. Ryan caught one that looked to easily challenge that mark. Of course we were working … we couldn't just jump off the water and go get an official weight before we had the show wrapped. So the Ryan and his big fish had to wait several hours before we could get the fish on the scales … and with cameras rolling that is exactly what we did at the end of the day. What did Ryan's fish weigh? Well you'll have to watch the show to find that out.
And the show is worth watching. Zona caught a ton of them shallow on jerkbaits and tubes. Then he caught them deep on a VIB E blade. Then as if that wasn't enough … he went back for more. This is a great learning show but more than anything this is a great eye candy show (that is if you like your candy bronze).
For me it's just a great memory … that reminds me why I love my job.
Randy White — Producer
To see Mark Zona and Bob Cobb fishing together was one of the coolest things I've witnessed in a long time. You could immediately tell that these two would have hung together... a lot, if Z was around when Bob was just getting started with BASS. The two just seemed to put each other at ease right off the bat, which was a great thing. I can't speak for Zona... but I was a nervous wreck knowing that Bob Cobb was going to be a guest on the show.
For someone who might not know Cobb's background, I'll try to get you caught up. Here is a brief history of a true icon in the world of bass fishing.
1967 — Ray Scott, the founder of BASS, met Bob while trying to drum up press for the "All American" on Beaver Lake, Ray's first bass tournament. Cobb was working in Tulsa, OK as the outdoor editor for the Tulsa Tribune. Needless to say the two hit it off.
1969 — Cobb quit his job and moved is family to Montgomery, AL to become the first professional editor of Bassmaster Magazine. Bold move if you ask me.
1984 — After shooting news release video for the Bassmaster Classic that Rick Clunn won in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Cobb decides to turn the footage into a 30 minute show called "A Winning Tradition." It didn't hurt that 1984 was one of the greatest Classics of all time.
1985 — The success of that show leads Cobb to give up his role as editor of the magazine and start up a series of shows that ultimately become "The Bassmasters" In case you missed it… I did just say Cobb created "The Bassmasters". Now do you understand why I was so nervous?
Obviously Bob's contributions to bass fishing go far beyond my simple history, but to me the gift he gave us called "The Bassmasters" makes the man a legend.
Of course the lake we chose didn't exactly help my mental state either. You see since Bob still has ties to Oklahoma we wanted to bring him back to a lake that he actually produced shows on… in the late 80's Skiatook was a phenomenal largemouth lake. They shot Bassmaster shows with the likes of Denny Brauer, Tom Mann Jr. and Ken Cook on it. Today it is one of the toughest lakes to catch a bass in the state. No one in their right mind would shoot a show there. And strangely enough it's become a smallmouth lake. At least Zona had that going for him!
Oh yeah… just before we shot it had rained about 1000 days in a row. The lake was flooded… fishing was tough… and one of my heroes was coming on a shoot that Zona and I set up. It wasn't looking good… All that was in my head that morning was - Please let them catch a fish! Don't let this turn into The World's Greatest Distaster!
Randy White — Producer
If you know Mark Zona… you know that he loves to fish a shaky head rig. Any time you ask him what he thinks you should be throwing, it seems 99% of the time the answer will be a shaky head. So when the WGFS came to Logan Martin Lake, the part of the world that put the shaky head on the fishing radar, I was sure that we were going to be producing a shaky head show. But to my surprise Zona had something else up his sleeve… something stupid.
Before I get to the stupid part I need to mention three things:
(1) Logan Martin is an extremely popular recreational destination, which means lots and lots of boat docks to fish.
(2) We were shooting this show in July… in Alabama… It was hot!
(3) The lake is part of the famed Coosa River chain of lakes, which are full of the infamous Coosa River spotted bass. I could try to explain what make these fish such a blast to catch but I'm afraid I wouldn't do them justice. But as you might expect… Zona paints a perfect picture in the show.
We had the fixings for a perfect Coosa Cocktail… You start with a lake. Fill it with boat docks. Add 1 part Alabama heat. Then top it off with as many spotted bass you can find. Of course Z had to garnish this concoction with a salty twist of northern love called a tube.
Or to be more exact a stupid tube. It's a 4" inch tube that is rigged to act like a shaky head… which meant that Zona could resist the urge to throw an actual shaky head. To be honest the tube seemed anything but stupid. Zona was skipping and pitching boat docks with it and the bait looked like ideal ammo… hitting virtually every target in Zona's sights.
Speaking of… have you ever watched a guy who really knows what he is doing skip docks? There is a definite art to it. Zona can hit a hole the size of a golf ball from 50 feet away… well maybe a bowling ball… certainly an exercise ball. Either way there is no question, the guy is good.
But here are a few questions… Have you ever wondered how to spend a hot summer day when it seems that the fish just aren't biting? Have you ever wondered how the pros get so good at skipping boat docks? Can you fish a tube like a shaky head? Why do people get so worked up over those crazy Coosa River spotted bass? It may sound stupid… but this show has the answers.
Randy White — Producer
Every show seems to take on its own life. Sometimes the shows are very educational like Logan Martin or Northern Michigan. Sometimes the shows are more about having fun with your buddy, as we saw with Rob Newell on Lake Murray. The life of this show turned into a look back at Mark Zona's life… and that is not what we intended. Actually we intended to go catch shallow water bass on jet boats, but things got complicated. So as Zona loves to say…we called an audible.
If you didn't know this already… the life of Mark Zona is very hectic. If he isn't shooting a WGFS, he is at a Bassmaster Event or in the Bassmaster studio. Not to mention his commitment to mini shows like The Start Up Kit and even covering redfish events. The guy is on the road all the time! So what did we do for this show? We hit the road of course.
Lake hopping is not uncommon in Michigan; there are seemingly thousands of lakes you can hit. So fresh off of an airplane Mark and the crew jumped in his truck in search of good lakes and lots of largemouth. Yes I did say largemouth. Our goal was to spend three days lake hopping across Michigan catching nothing but largemouth bass. Or as Zona liked to call it… The Michigan Circle of Trust. To understand why he called it that, you will just have to tune in.
What was cool about this trip, each lake we hit Mark had a history on. Which meant that we learned a little bit more about how he became an angler at almost every stop. We also got to meet some of the people who have helped and influenced Mark on the way. We paid a visit to Zona's buddy Kevin. We spent a day with Greg Mangus, a longtime tournament partner and mentor to Zona. But the real surprise came one night after dinner. I was there and I still don't believe it happened.
After getting a good tip on a grass lake, Zona made a last minute call to drive to Mitchell Lake in Cadillac Michigan. Now this was 200 miles from his home. We were leaving a restaurant when we noticed this old Ranger Boat pull in to the parking lot. Cameraman Greg thought he recognized it as a 1989 Classic rig. We couldn't resist the temptation to find out, so we walked over to ask the owner… that's when Zona realized that the owner of the boat was Larry Barnett. Larry Barnett was the guy who first gave a young Mark Zona a taste of fishing strictly for bass. In fact, he introduced Zona to tournament fishing on the very lake Z now calls home. To me that's a one in a million encounter. Call it fate… call it magic… call it what you will. I call it a strangely fitting way to close the Michigan Circle of Trust. Seriously it was not set up.
