The gloves are off.
While brutally honest throughout his two decades as analyst for Bassmaster TV, Mark Zona will be allowed to pull back the curtain further with Tommy Sanders in their new TnZ Podcast debuting Monday.
“It’s everything we talked about on and off camera while I covered Bassmaster LIVE, the good, bad and the ugly,” Zona said. “I relate it to Zona show – show the touchdowns and the interceptions.”
Happy to have his news team re-assemble, executive producer Mike McKinnis said the podcast will feature an unencumbered Zona.
“The thing that’s great to me is, Zona has spent 20-plus years being a color commentator, and you do have to be conscientious and kind to everybody, the anglers, the league, the sponsors, the local communities,” McKinnis said. “He’s out now. He at an arm’s distance. Everybody is fair game. He can tell it like he’s wanted to.
“By the way, Zona is a kind person even when he is telling it like it is. He’s being honest. He’s never taken cheap shots, and dishonesty is never a thing he would ever do.”
Sanders, who’s had a mind meld with Zona since their first broadcast, agreed … to a point.
“He’s not unkind. Well, he’s unkind, but he’s not inhumane,” he said with a chuckle. “Cruel but fair. Make sure to put cruel but fair.”
Yes, the TnZ zaniness and laughs are returning, and Sanders couldn’t be happier. During last year’s final Elite broadcast, Zona shocked many by announcing his time was done with Bassmaster LIVE. That realization ticked off Sanders.
“Man, I thought we were all done,” Sanders said. “I get a second chance.”
Zona, who left to concentrate on Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show among other projects, said in this goodbye story that at JM Associates, one door closing usually leads to another opening.
On Wednesday, Sanders and Zona taped their first show, which will air on the new Bassmaster Channel on Bassmaster.com. The twice-a-month, hour-long shows sponsored by Strike King will offer their hot takes on the state of bass fishing.
“Again, it’s the same formula,” Sanders said. “I just got to set him up and let it eat. Don’t make it about me.”
Sanders did offer his considered thoughts on the topics, which began with news, notes and nuggets. They reviewed the 2024 Elite season and hit on forward-facing sonar and its future. Other topics included anglers on top of the mountain and bottom feeders, how the rookies performed and what’s expected from the incoming class.
“Then we did a segment, ‘What is the deal?’ which was anything we want,” McKinnis said. “Today it was entry fees.”
Elites no longer paying to play has been a hot topic. Anglers like Greg Hackney called it the best thing ever, while others groused at payouts down the standings. Zona, whose phone blew up after the news hit, even poked at B.A.S.S. that deep in the cut was worth “$17.”
Zona did give props to the angler advisory board and CEO Chase Anderson for working together to amend payouts. Anglers agreed to pony up $10,000 for the season to move the 50th-place check to a more palatable $5,500.
Zona hit on Hackney’s questioning whether someone who finishes 50th or 65th should even get a check. In the end, Zona said no entry fees was a great move as long as payouts increase in the future.
Laughs ensued when a clip of rookie Kyle Patrick, whom Zona dubbed the “The Fruit Bat,” fell off his boat while fishing next to Lee Livesay. It was duly noted that Livesay stole the moment by hollering, “Yes!”
They also weighed in on anglers who best share their knowledge, like Brandon Palaniuk and Jason Christie, and a list of who hides it most. The show ends with their picks for the Elite season opener on the St. Johns River.
“Oh, it was great,” Sanders said of working with Zona again. “It was fantastic.”
