George is right about the sex difference. I failed to mention that during the spring the male HSB are shallow every chance they get, and the females are more hit and miss.
One of the most remarkable things I've ever seen in a pond was spring of 2001 when I was walking around my 1.25 acre rec. pond. As I approached the pond I could see that my water was extremely muddy in the SW corner. When I got closer saw at least 100 of my HSB spinning around in circles, with the biggest fish right in the center (presumably females) going through a false spawn. Pretty impressive. When the fish were stocked I assumed that there wouldn't be any spawning activity, but I was dead wrong.
ML, during the summer I could catch fish in 2 feet of water at first light. The HSB were herding BG YOY into the shallows. During the day, however, the fish were almost always deep and usually inactive.
Holding a redear sunfish is like running with scissors.
