They are going to eat when they need to...that's the bottom line. I have caught them breaking the surface chasing shad like black bass, 45+ feet deep right off the bottom and everywhere in between. Sometimes they will chase and eat a bait when you move it up through the water column, sometimes if you let if drop down, sometimes they want it dead still and other times at a steady moving pace. The only constant when it comes to fishing is that there are no constants. You have to find the fish and then let them tell you what and how they want the presentation. Once you figure it out you better catch them while you can because they can shut off just like a switch too.