Bass tournament fishing and NASCAR go together like beer and hot wings.

I get that, since both sports grew out of the south.

But NFL and bass fishing?

I didn’t see it coming, but that bond was definitely there during the first-ever KVD/Lions Charity Bass Tournament near Detroit last week.

It was born a year ago out of a conversation between Kalamazoo’s Kevin VanDam, arguably the best pro bass angler on the planet, and Lions’ head coach Jim Schwartz, who has turned the NFL doormat into a pillar of super bowl hope and promise.

The brainstorm raised several thousand dollars for youth groups last week when some two dozen Lions players and coaches dashed out of a morning practice to climb into boats for a four-hour fish-off. The boats, provided by national and regional pros who served as captains, were shared with a paying sponsor on Kent Lake near Detroit.

Among the captains were South Bend native Greg Mangus, a top Indiana angler, and Sturgis, Mich.’s Mark Zona, a celebrity TV fishing show host.

Superstars Calvin Johnson (receiver) and Matt Stafford (quarterback) were no-shows, but backup quarter back Shaun Hill and other offensive and defensive starters were there.

And loving it.

“We’ve never had this kind of excitement from our players for a charity event,” Schwartz told me. “We don’t get this kind of volunteer participation for our charity golf tournament. These guys love to fish and say they don’t feel the pressure to be a star on the lake like they do on the golf course.”

Of course, there was the whole competition thing. The trash talking began as soon as the players arrived and continued after the weigh-in. They interacted with their boat captains as fishermen, not snooty, highly paid NFL stars, and they stuck around afterwards to share stories and laughs about the experience.

“I do a lot of charity events, but this was the most fun I’ve had at one of these,” said Hill. “We all love the competition.”

Now, some still argue that competition has no business in fishing, but they might as well get used to it.

Competitive bass fishing is growing, even at the collegiate and high school level, said journalist John Neporandy. He’s written several magazine articles about scholastic bass events and has led a charge to implement programs in Missouri high schools.

“Illinois and Kentucky high school athletic associations already sanction bass fishing as club activities with state championships and Missouri is headed in that direction,” he said. “Alabama has formed a high school bass fishing league and other states are taking a hard look at similar ventures.”

Illinois has more than 200 schools participating and Kentucky kicks off its season this fall with 60 high schools in the mix.

What’s neat about it is it is coed, so the whole issue of forming girls and boys teams is a non-issue,” he noted.

It’s growing equally fast at the collegiate level where national organizations host college bass fishing championships in which scholarships are offered to winners.

Indiana and Purdue hold an annual “Minnow Bucket” fish-off, and last spring, those schools joined Ball State, Notre Dame, and Vincennes in the “Ice Box” tournament at Geist Reservoir near Indianapolis.

“There are more than 250 collegiate bass teams, and Bethel College in Kentucky even offers bass fishing scholarships,” said Neporandy. “This thing is spreading across the country.”

VanDam isn’t surprised by the interest at the grassroots level, nor is he surprised that NFL players have taken to the sport.

“I spend a lot of time pro athletes and many are big fans of competitive bass fishing,” he said. “It’s no longer a good ol’ boy sport.”

VanDam, a longtime Lion loyalist, said he’d love to see the Bears host a similar charity event.

“Imagine a Lions’ team fishing against ‘da Bears,” he offered. “We’d raise a ton of money for charity.”

And maybe…just maybe… those boys could get along for at least one day on the water.