In our old farm pond growing up the only place you would catch the big redear was submerged structure in the 8-12 foot depth ranges. Can't say that's necessarily your issue but I don't believe in 20 years of fishing that pond we caught very many redear at shallow depths.

In my pond here I routinely catch them at 4-5 feet. Can't say what the difference is, but there certainly is one.

Dale

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"When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water." - anonymous