Jeff,
This past spring, I fished a couple crystal clear lakes in the Nebraska sandhills. From a standing position in my boat, I was able to observe LMB on their nests in 18" to 48" of water. Most of the nests on one lake were on the North shore, in flat bottom areas in the silt, close to or surrounded by reeds. Always the nests were in calm water. It appeared that they cleared away the silt to lay the eggs on the sand underneath.

In another lake most of the nests were on the South shore although similar cover existed on the North shore?

Both lakes contain huge bluegill, but I never saw one on a nest.

I had a ball dragging a jig through the nests, watching the bass pick it up to remove it, and then setting the hook. Caught and released over a hundred in two days, 2-1/2 to 5 pounds.

Hope this helps!

Brad B.