With the recent announcement that the NPFL will be pivoting to Millwood Lake for Stop 2, now is a great time to talk about how top-level pros break down a lake in three days with no information, no prior knowledge, and no room for error. At the time of writing this article, I haven’t looked at Millwood Lake one bit. Everything I discuss here is work still to be done prior to departing for Texas Saturday. These are the mindsets, tools, and resources that I use for every event each season.

The mindset that I will have when starting my research is two-fold. I look for the areas that have the greatest population of fish, and I attempt to identify areas that have the largest fish. In practice, I will spend most of my time focusing on the areas where the tournament could be won. It’s easier to scrap a practice searching for big fish and salvage a limit than vice-versa. I will typically spend a half-day figuring out the easiest way to get bit and marking high-percentage targets just in case things “hit the fan.”

Identifying both types of areas starts before I ever leave the house. I will use every mapping tool available (LakeMaster, Navionics, C-Maps, and Active Captain) to look at the lake. Although LakeMaster is my favorite most of the time, sometimes one app will have something that jumps out at me a little different than the rest. I also utilize the desktop version of Google Earth and the generic Apple maps. Learning how each of these tools works and the settings that you can manipulate provides a significant competitive advantage. For instance, the historical imaging of the Google Earth desktop app and the ability to mark waypoints and transfer those directly to your fish finder before you hit the lake has resulted in extra fish catches for me on multiple occasions. Notably, in Florida I was able to mark little turns in the grass and clean water behind reed walls that provided excellent spawning pockets.

Furthermore, I believe that using your electronics and your eyes (a.k.a. “EyeScope”) to break down a lake is critical. The first thing that I’ll look for is life in an area. It sounds common sense, but the best areas often have bluegill under docks, baitfish in the creek channels, and just an overall sense of healthy water. We’ve all been fishing for hours without seeing a minnow flicker on the surface and most of the time these areas are unproductive. In practice, I’m notorious for driving around at 40mph with my eyes peeled. I’m looking for birds, bait, or other signs of activity that could clue me into a pattern.

I’m excited to get down to Millwood Lake this Sunday and put these principles into action. It should be a great event and certainly carries major implications in the AOY race. I enjoy writing these articles and appreciate everyone who takes the time to read them. It’s humbling to have people at boat ramps referencing some of this material. For now, I’m headed to study Millwood Lake!