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2025 B&W Trailer Hitches Heavy Hitters is underway on Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake and Mark Daniels Jr. is navigating uncharted waters. Known for its scenic beauty and diverse opportunities, this sprawling highland reservoir presents a unique challenge for MDJ, who is fishing the lake for the first time.

With a mix of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, coupled with the influence of spawning herring, Daniels is leaning on his adaptability to compete in this high-stakes event.

“This is my first time on this lake. I’ve never been here and it’s absolutely beautiful to the eye,” Daniels Jr. said. “Lots of bass, as well. Figuring out the stage of these fish is the most critical thing. About 15 percent of the bass are still spawning. It’s also important to understand that this is a herring lake and that changes the game for these bass.”

Smith Mountain Lake, a 20,600-acre impoundment nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is a fishery defined by its steep banks, clear water and robust herring population. For Daniels Jr., the parallels to South Carolina fisheries like Lake Murray or Clarks Hill are striking. The behavior of the herring, he notes, is a driving force behind the bass’ movements.

“How these herring act dictate a lot about what these bass do,” MDJ said. “The bass get around shallow water cover and the herring are wanting to start spawning. It’s almost like the bass are staging to wait for the herring to start spawning as well. It’s been a strange dynamic. Those herring-oriented bass seemingly get a lot of fishing pressure as well.”

Anglers are allowed to use forward-facing sonar across all three periods during Heavy Hitters — Qualifying, Knockout and Championship rounds. This technology could be a game-changer on a lake as vast as Smith Mountain, where finding isolated fish is key.

Daniels Jr., however, was able to avoid the crowds and tap into a solid pattern on day one that has him holding down the second place spot.

“I’m trying to get into some zones where there aren’t a ton of boats,” he said. “A lot of locals were out this weekend, and they absolutely have the right to be there. No problem at all on that. But that’s going to be most of the fishing pressure, in my opinion. This lake fishes pretty big and I honestly didn’t see many other competitors on my first day.”

Unlike fisheries with flatter, more traditional spawning grounds, Smith Mountain Lake’s terrain makes it trickier to locate stereotypical bluegill beds, which often attract bass during the spawn.

“Some bluegill are spawning but I haven’t seen many bass on the beds,” Daniels Jr. said. “This place is super steep, so it’s hard to find those stereotypical flat, shallow bluegill pockets.”

With bass in a transitional phase—some still spawning, others staging for the herring or bluegill spawn— MDJ anticipates a variety of techniques will produce early in the tournament. The allowance of forward-facing sonar opens the door for precise presentations, but the herring factor could shift the game entirely.

“I think we’ll see a hodge podge of minnows, drop shots, Neko rigs, jerkbaits and topwater in the early stages of this tournament,” Daniels Jr. said. “You can catch ‘em just fishing down the banks, too. But it all depends on what this herring deal does. If that takes off, a lot of guys are going to do that, which will include a lot of topwater.”

The Team Toyota pro’s game plan is grounded in simplicity and progression. Rather than chasing a specific pattern from the outset, he’s focused on staying adaptable and making one cut at a time.

“My gameplan is fairly simple going into this one: let’s just make the Knockout Round and then take baby steps,” he said. “If I had it my way, I’d fish boat docks from start to finish, but this lake is in a major transition right now based on what I’ve seen.”

The fisheries diversity—supporting largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass—requires anglers to make calculated decisions about which species to target. Largemouth often hold tight to shallow cover like docks and laydowns, while smallmouth and spotted bass may roam deeper, chasing schools of bait.

MDJ’s ability to read the lake’s conditions and adjust his approach could be the difference between a paycheck or a championship run.

Forward-facing sonar, a hot topic in competitive fishing, will undoubtedly continue to shape strategies across the field. The technology allows anglers to locate fish in real time, spotting suspended bass or schools chasing herring. For Daniels Jr., it’s a tool to complement his instincts, not replace them.

You’d think the freedom to use FFS would lead to a fast-paced, tech-driven event but MDJ’s focus on less-pressured zones suggests he’s aiming to blend technology with old-school angling savvy. By targeting areas away from the crowds, he hopes to find unpressured fish that haven’t seen a barrage of boats.

MDJ’s strategy to seek solitude on the lake’s 500 miles of shoreline has proven wise thus far, as he out fished his group with the excepetion of Michael Neal during his first day on the water. Smith Mountain Lake’s size offers plenty of room to spread out and Daniels Jr. is banking on finding pockets of fish that others overlook.

So far, so good for MDJ as his chances to make the Knockout Round are strong based on his day one efforts. Daniels Jr. plans to remain focused on stacking some more weight to the SCORETRACKER, along with targeting a big bite in hopes to take advantage of the huge payouts for the big bass each day of competition.