I drilled holes on a west-side bay near the dam (never fished that area before) last Friday afternoon, and found myself in only 6' to 8' of water. I fished several holes for 10 to 20 minutes each between 3 and 4:30 p.m. with a small spoon tipped with waxworm. I only had one sniffer (he came up to the bait on my Vexilar, and may have licked my bait
).
There were quite a few fishermen on the lake farther south (I've seen days when I was the only one there), but have no idea whether they were picking up fish or not. I do know there seemed to be more BS-ing than fishing during prime time (just before dark). I don't know whether that meant no fish activity or many beers.
My best catch this winter came in 20-plus feet of water during the last 2 hours of daylight (crappie to 10" -- on a ruler!! No walleye or northern). The small jigging spoon tipped with a waxworm worked best.