I fish great lakes browns not sure if the behavior is the same with smaller water browns. That being said here's my tips based on lake Michigan brown trout. I start by going to the areas I know the browns cruise in the fall and spring and try there first usually between 4 and 12 feet of water while fishing in the shallower water 4-6 feet roughly I tend to set my bait just below the ice about 2 feet. Once i reach deeper water I will usually fish top half for awhile then switch to the lower half back and forth throughout the day. I tend to look for a fine gravel bottom. If I'm not sure where the fish have been holding I will first look for a stream or river coming into the lake basically anywhere the water temperature will be different these areas attract bait and where there's bait the big fish will be near by. If I can't find a stream entering the lake i will find a where there is a shallow hump in deeper water fish will tend to stick around such structure and you can usually do quite well. Once I find a location I tend to set 2 either automatic fisherman jawjackers or slammer boards I will usually run a small minnow on a number 4 or 6 octopus hook on one and a spawn sack on the other spawn i tend to run 2 feet of the bottom while minnows I suspend half way. Then I'll set up my shack and jig either a small teardrop tipped with 2 waxies or a Swedish pimple tipped with either waxies or a small minnow. Good luck.
