It seems like an odd question for a successful tour-level professional angler as he sits down for an off-day Q&A in the hotel lobby in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but a writer asks it of Summit Select sophomore Zack Birge anyway: “If you could be a fly on the wall on any MLF competitor’s boat for one full day, who would it be?”

Birge’s answer is immediate: “Mark Rose, no question.”

Birge has proven to be adept at everything from spinnerbaits to swimbaits to jigs to topwater, but if there’s any hint of a hole in his game, the Oklahoma pro believes it to be the type of fishery that Rose – an eight-time winner on the FLW Tour and one of the most dominant anglers in the game – excels at.

“I don’t feel like I have that Kentucky Lake and Tennessee River-type offshore-ledge stuff figured out yet,” Birge admits. “I haven’t figured out how to catch those big bags that you have to have to win on the Tennessee River. I see a school of fish and catch 2- and 3-pounders. Mark will come by, see the exact same fish, and catch a 6-pounder. What is he seeing that I’m not?”

Birge’s numbers bear him out: in his three seasons on the FLW Tour, his average finish on Tennessee River impoundments (Lake Chickamauga, Kentucky Lake, Pickwick Lake and Guntersville Lake) has been 137^th. Rose, meanwhile, has racked up seven victories on the Tennessee River.

“Mark is just so good at picking apart the offshore ledge stuff,” Birge says. “I feel like I’m pretty good with offshore brush piles, but ledges are a different deal. I know what a school looks like and I can throw down there and catch them – I’ve spent numerous days on Kentucky Lake and Pickwick and caught a ton of fish – but I have yet to figure out the quality fish. You give me a chance to ride around with Mark for one day, I’ll take it.”