I fish the beds, but only to determine what size males are using which ones, and that is all catch and release. Once the local size is determined then it is a matter of adjacent holding and schooling areas which can be quite deep even when the spawning bed is very shallow.
IMO bluegills don't move very far for anything, and do not rove anywhere to the degree that crappies do. IOW if you are catching dinks, you will not likely catch much of any size in that spot; so move until you connect with size you are looking for. I understand that shellcrackers behave somewhat differently, but they don't live this far north.
