The prep. So many variables can affect your success when chasing trophy gills. There's the lake type, fishing pressure, predators, weather, location and genetics. These are just some of the things that determine the trophy potential for any given lake. Some of my favorite lakes are small bodies of water with a couple of shallow bays and a mixture of cattail and bulrush lined shores. I also like to have more then one deep basin to allow the fish to spread out and not get too pressured. Having a population of pike and/or largemouth bass can also help keep gill numbers in check and allow a lower population to grow big! Weather can play a big factor when fishing new lakes and trying to determine the size structure. If you are out on a new lake in post frontal conditions or after the spawn you might not catch many fish and have a hard time checking the size structure of the lake. The last, but one of the most important features of  a trophy lake, is the genetic structure of the lake. Whenever I hear talk about a lake putting out trophy fish of any species, it's a sign to check it out for trophy gills too. Sometimes it's like something in the water just grows big fish! Now that you have a list of lakes to attack, the "on the water" search begins.
The hunt. This is my favorite part of the game. Breaking down new water is an adventure that is so rewarding. After looking at maps and making a game plan of attack, I put the boat in the water and fire up my Humminbird electronics. Side imaging is such an efficient tool when it comes to breaking down new water and searching for fish. The easiest way to find the size structure in a new lake is to go scan all around the shoreline areas close to spawning bays when the water is in the prime spawning range. I'm looking for nesting colonies and will scan for hours looking and marking them. On smaller 500-750 acre lakes you can scan the entire break line around the lake in a matter of hours. You can unlock an entire lakes mystery in just a few hours of scanning. We've found up to 26 nesting colonies on a lake of this size. Each colony has 75-100 nests. Once you have these nesting colonies marked it's very easy to pull up to each one and catch a few aggressive fish from them. It's a fast, easy way to see what kind of size structure is in a lake. You always want to check out multiple colonies because there are definitely times when you might check 6 in a row and the fish are average size, but then you hit the right one and it's loaded with trophy size gills!
The catch. Once you find them it's very easy to catch them. You might have to mix it up and figure out if the fish want a slow dropping lure, a horizontal moving bait, or maybe just one that is sitting still under a bobber. Don't forget to toss out a small popper around these nesting colonies. Sometimes it's crazy how the big gills will fly from the bottom and swirl on a small popper. If you happen to be using a slip bobber and the fish are coming up to attack it, by all means reel in and throw a small topwater for these fish. If the bite slows, switch it up and tie on a small drop shot. I like to tie a small hair fly about a 1' or 2' above the small dropshot weight. With this presentation you can place it right on a nest and just hold you line tight. If you lower your rod the light fly will slowly drift towards the bottom. Once you let it drop you can just lightly lift your rod tip and bring the fly back up until you feel the weight on the bottom. The most important thing is to have fun, mix it up and make sure you take a kid or 2 fishing with you. If you put the work in and find the trophy fish, please take some pictures and let them go. They will keep the lake full of great genetics and allow others to keep on catching these big fish!