It’s no secret that location is the most critical factor in fishing. Without it being the boat’s priority, we’re wasting our time fishing in unproductive water and not putting ourselves in the best spots and in the best position to capture big fish. Location is very meaningless to me unless that waterbody grows trophy fish. Otherwise, I’m not wasting my time fishing there. Anglers should never want to fish at a specific lake or destination unless that water is known for historically and presently producing big fish. Problematic throughout the country, trophy bass lakes are dwindling due to pressure, harvest and overexploitation. The number of unproductive lakes loaded with smaller bass greatly outnumbers the number of lakes with trophy bass. The ratio between trophy vs action waters is small, and anglers should never want to fish waters lacking in trophy potential. Over the course of my bass fishing and guiding career, finding these lakes has required the most tedious and time-consuming study. Identifying and finding them is the most difficult but rewarding challenge that you’ll face as an angler. So much time and effort go into research, investigation