as an update to my original post, I hit this lake again on sunday morning. A cold front had come in and it was cloudy, windy and cooler than it had been and some rain came through as well. I don't know if this had any effect on things or not. The water temp was at 65 to 66 degrees according to my thermometer. Still didn't see any gills roaming around. When I checked one of the shallow bedding spots I did find a couple big gills hanging out. I'm guessing they are early arrivals, maybe males preparing beds? Didn't see any gills anywhere else in the lake, shallows or otherwise.

After a good skunking, we decided to pull out the spinning reels for a bit. (blasphemy, I know!) We were in a large cove, maybe an acre in size. Rigged with soft plastic baits we started catching bass on nearly every cast. They ranged from 12 to 17 inches. What a hoot on unlralight setups! Didn't seem to matter where in the cove we were at we never went more than a couple casts over the course of two hours without at least getting a bite. I need to try and put together a fly that mimics these pastic baits somewhat.

If the sun stays out all week I suspect the bluegills will be getting up in the shallows pretty soon.

Oh yeah, you folks are giving some outstanding info in this thread. It's fascinating to read through, thanks!