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He grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, but he has become synonymous with fishing in the state of Michigan where he caught his first bass at the age of 4 on a family vacation. That first bass sparked a passion for fishing that has been woven into his entire life. He got his first taste of tournament fishing at the age of 9, and by the time he finished college he was selling pontoons and bass boats while still competing in local tournaments. Local success led to national level events including Bassmaster Invitationals and Opens, and the FLW Everstart Northern Division where he won the AOY in 2003.

He considered a career as a professional fisherman, but a 2004 interview with ESPN for their new ESPN Outdoors Saturday fishing block changed all that when Zona landed the position of co-host of Loudmouth Bass. This was the beginning of his life as a television commentator, host and analyst.

In 2005 ESPN scaled down their outdoor programming but kept Zona as the host of his own fishing show named “World’s Greatest Fishing Show “which aired for four years. When ESPN transitioned out of outdoor programming Zona continued with his fishing show but renamed it “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show!” on the Outdoor Channel and World Fishing Network. Zona’s show is still in production and has become one of the most popular bass fishing shows in the history of outdoor television.

Zona’s association with B.A.S.S started in 2005 when he caught the eye of Jerry and Mike McKinnis, who invited him to co-host The Bassmaster Show with Tommy Sanders. Zona has been with B.A.S.S. through the inception of Bassmaster LIVE which launched at the 2015 Classic, bringing reality to their dream of truly live on-the-water tournament coverage.

His passionate style, sense of humor and fishing knowledge has provided entertainment to millions of fishing fans. Despite his popularity being as high as ever, his role as color commentator on Bassmaster LIVE! had become more difficult with the recent transitions that professional bass fishing has undergone but that's not why he has now stepped down from his two-decade stint as analyst.

He said the idea of moving on had been on his mind for the last five years. He thought he addition of Davy Hite mind over him the opportunity to move on but when the B.A.S.S. production company urged him to return, he felt an obligation. As a result, Bassmaster and Zona's Awesome Fishing Sho) have run parallel a lot longer than he expected despite his desire to devote more time to Mark Zona, Inc.  While sharing time on a recent pontoon excursion with wife Karin they gave each other a knowing look and decided it was time to turn the page.

Zona is still young, and his energy and passion for the sport that has fueled his life is still at full throttle.  There is no question he still thoroughly enjoys the work. He's aware that his high-volume, in-your-face style and his credibility- of which he is very proud- also fuel his popularity. was always more important to him than universal popularity. He is extremely grateful to JM Productions for letting Zona be Zona- honest, critical and passionately outspoken- the only way he knows how to be.  This allowed him to walk away happy and proud. He never took that chair for granted, viewing it as a privilege to work with his best friends. Tommy Sanders and Mike McKinnis- fellow Class of ’24 HOF inductee.

Zona admits the emergence of forward-facing sonar has had a big impact on his job. "The advancement of that technology has made it hard to be an analyst," he said. Zona added that before the tech dominance, the hardest broadcast was a sight-fishing event because everybody was doing the same thing. Now, “in a pure FFS tournament, there's a lot of time to fill because anglers are fixated on their graphs. It's certainly not easy." He also knew that some anglers would've been happier with him if he'd been willing to stray from his commitment to honesty. As recently as last Friday, he was asked to bend the truth regarding a bait an angler was using on the St. Lawrence. He noted that in the past he did not mind being protective of anglers because he understood what it means to be in their position, but the truth “was a line I never crossed."

Zona views his longtime broadcast partner the same way he would an older brother. "He doesn't know how much he taught me. When we first started, I did everything I could to get under his skin, but I found out that he's as big of a jackal or a hyena as I am, and he fed it right back to me. I'm proud because I feel like I pulled some of that out of him.”

We at iBass360 will miss Mark’s contributions to the LIVE tournament scene. We are excited for his next chapter which, other than continuing his TV show, remains a bit under wraps. Whatever Mark decides to pursue, we know he will always LIVE THE PASSION!