What's going on here?

[SteveJ]

A friend and I caught 17 keepers fishing from 10 to 14 feet last week on jigs along drop-offs. About 4 days later another friend was bassfishing and about 30 mins. before he had to quit he moved up into the shallows with a red rattletrap and caught 1 bass, 1 cat and 3 big crappie in 2 feet of water. The surface temp was the same 48 degrees both days. We had 5 males and the rest females with bright eggs, not nearly ready. Doesn't seem normal to me but what do I know!!

[J White]

Steve, I've heard some stories before from Bay Springs of folks
wearing them out in early Feb. bad shallow on minnows - like less than
five feet, which is about five feet shallower than I usually fish there.
I've tried it a few times, but never hit it right. Supposedly they make
some forays into the shallows early, but I think it is an "in and out" thing,
and if you blink, you miss it