I predominantly fish for trout; and surprisingly over the years have done best fishing shallow for big browns, the rationale I have behind this would be the are foraging for food specifically crayfish. The few and far between that I keep when cleaned are full of small minnow and I mean small and crayfish. Also I found that browns like shallow rocky gravel like bottoms not weeds. Stay away from weeds and target the rocks, if you can get near a current (inlet, outlet) give that a shot too. With that said I have caught browns in deep water practically all over the water column but my best has been shallow. PM me if you would like any more tips...... good luck hope it helped.