Brian...

I was out there the Monday before last before the lake started to rise rapidly. The water had come up a couple of feet the week prior due to the first semi-major storm. I found fish both shallow and deep (had fish on both ends of the spectrum). As far as fish moving up and staying up (ie spawning mode)... it is more dictated by water temp than anything in my opinion but fish that are moving up vertically in the water column to feed are dictaded more on feeding windows. I found fish in 6 feet of water over 11 and I found fish deeper than most are willing to fish. To answer your question... that's up to the fish. There are no standards but as the water starts to stabilize and warm up... the fish will follow suit.