Tuesday morning started early as Mark Zona prepared for a day of scouting in Michigan. The weather forecast looked to be a bruiser as temperatures plummeted and wind and rain poured down.
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He and long-time friend Neil Vandebiezen are ready for a day of pre-fishing while co-star Brent Ehrler makes the plane flight to Michigan. Vandebiezen is also the camera boat driver that helps make Zona LIVE work flawlessly.
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Zona used the covered shelter at the hotel to do some last minute rigging before we headed out.
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He had anything from spinning rods with light line to baitcasters with umbrella rigs.
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With the cloudy, rainy and windy predictions this could be a player today.
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He shoved some extra Bass Mafia storage boxes in his rod locker in hopes of keeping his equipment as dry as possible.
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When fishing up north where smallmouth live, you better come prepared with tubes because they are candy for the bronzebacks.
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He keeps all of his umbrella rigs in an airtight Mafia bag.
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Time to shove off and head out.
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They gameplan with how the weather is acting and where they should go.
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Zona punches in the boat ramp address and we are off. The lake we headed to isn't where Zona LIVE presented by Daiwa will take place, but one where a possible TV shoot may take place.
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Getting gas is a part of the sport, but it's never fun with temperatures in the 40s as you can tell by Zona's facial expression.
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We make it to the lake before sunrise and launch his Nitro Z21.
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We were greeted with some rolling waves directly into the boat ramp, which threw some water on his Mercury 250 ProXS and his twin Power-Pole drift paddles.
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But they were A-Ok as we were ready to roll.
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Vandebiezen hops aboard and off we go.
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They are bundled up for a day of non-stop rain and wind.
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The water temperature has already dropped to around 60 degrees or less on these lakes.
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Scouting for a TV show is much different than practicing for a tournament for sure. It's not about finding the five best bites possible, but rather an awesome mix of quantity and quality.
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After Zona boated the first fish of the day, Vandebiezen caught the second.
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They were loving the umbrella rig with Strike King 3.75 Rage Swimmers.
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Don't look now, but Zona hooked up again.
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He boat flips the fish and sizes up whether they should leave or stay.
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His second fish of the day was a chunky smallmouth that also munched a Rage Swimmer.
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"Vande" hooks up and swings in his second fish to not be outdone.
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Zona takes the time to re-rig a couple baits while Vande runs the trolling motor.
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Little more adjustment on the Rage Swimmer before it's perfect.
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Now it's good to go on his umbrella rig.
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...
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Just in case you were wondering...
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No, he isn't going to run out this week.
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Then he bombs a cast on another spot as they look for similar characteristics to some of the better spots they've hit.
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He's seen all he needs to from this baby to know it is a fish catcher, but also a smallie catcher this week.
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The rain continued to pour down as they grinded out some research and development.
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On the move again.
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In search of some sweet goodness for an episode of Zona's Awesome Fishing Show.
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The trees are in full autumn mode as they are changing colors every day and some are already losing their leaves.
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Zona told me to fish as much or as little as I wanted to and I'm glad he did. We got into a pod of fish and I managed to catch three smallmouth on one cast as Zona helped land the fish. He said I had a fourth smallmouth on the line, but it came off as they fought by the boat. Talk about a memory of a lifetime for me.
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We laughed and had a great time, but the eventual silence meant that work was still to be done and they were determined to find a goldmine if there was one.
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Zona hooked up again.
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And he did so on a different bait.
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He boat flipped a solid smallmouth.
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As it thrashed into the boat.
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I looked to see what he caught it on, but I couldn't tell.
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Until I looked deeper, I do believe this fish wanted some of that Strike King Redeye Shad.
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That's a good one, but not a giant they are searching for.
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They decided to call it quits after almost a full day of fishing on the water. They held up some of the best smallmouth they caught today. They love every smallmouth they catch, but...
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Zona seemed to love this one a little more before he released this one back into the lake.
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Before they all went back we, of course, took a selfie.
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For those who fish, last cast never actually means last cast, and we hit another spot before heading in.
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Zona knows he broke his promise, but the smallies were loving the influx of cool temperatures so we had to fish a little longer.
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A pile of baits on display after testing and trying different ones.
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We stopped on one last grass patch before loading the boat.
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And Vande caught this one at the buzzer.
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Time to pull up the trolling motor and head in.
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Zona's vessel meets its trailer as we head to warmer, dryer conditions inside his truck.
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Thumbs up for a good practice day on what was a tough day of weather.
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Although there were wind and waves all day long, his equipment was saved and held up. Good thing, because we have the season finale of Zona LIVE with Brent Ehrler in Michigan tomorrow.
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The action starts at 8:30 a.m. ET and will last for four straight hours.
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