Brother your not alone. Been fishing GV 3 days a week for a couple years, and what your describing is right on par with the current bite. With the water at the current levels, you have to be fishing rock piles. There is not much brush in the lake, except for the planted brush. There are lots of small brush piles here, and there but they are hard to locate. Right now bait is stacked up in dove ramp/McPherson cove, Scott's landing (the marina with Big Daddy's hamburger joint), and Silver lake marina. Bait is favoring the south side, and has been there for months. With that said, I would favor these three coves and try and put together a pattern, and hope it holds. I personally have left the shallows, and sticking to 20+ after 8am for a big bite. Scott's landing has some areas between the bank and the marina itself, that have good depth and some structure. Silver lake marina big tires, are holding bait early in the morning right up next to the west side. There are some opportunities there, maybe a jumping minnow up close and personal with the tires at first light. And one simple pattern for GV which always seems to hold, is running ramps. Believe me, I spent 16 hours on the lake last Sunday, and really focused on deep water (practicing my casting). When I pulled out at meadomere I ran a dt8 in chartreuse/blue back down the sides of the ramp and landed an over. And when I hooked the fish a wake boat was trailering, with prop wash. Do not be scared of a ramp, with heavy traffic. Dove, is the same. The fish are used to it. When the sun gets high, it will get tough. Have a usual suspect fishing buddy that likes to run boat stalls in silver lake, it had a good bite for him two weeks ago. But at the moment his pattern, went belly up. Allot of buck bass , and small Sandies in small wolfpacks working the marina in the daytime. But personally I used to steer away from areas with sandbass, but I like them. However the silver lake wolf packs are working very small minnows/glass minnows. I like to favor areas with shad, and the three areas I described have shad. Go out about 3am-4am, and do some idling around and bring a bright flashlight. When you are idling and scanning, check the surface. Bait are all up on top at night, when the sun comes up they collect into larger schools and do the safety in numbers routine out in the mouth of these coves in deeper water. "Wink, wink".. with that said, due north of Dove ramp, the north side of the lake between Twin coves, and Murrell Point is holding fish as well but they are deep. Twin coves is broken, bait is AWOL, your welcome to scan it but it's empty. Graph looks like a pure black screen last three times I checked it. But I am not working the backs of the coves until we get some rain, to cool the water down. When we get a little water coming into the creeks, it's on like Donkey Kong. Shoot me an IM, if you want to chew the fat. I typically fish GV Sun, mon, Tues, and every other wed. Good luck, and hope you get the boys on some fish. Now, the best tip I can give you right now is to fish some kind of worm like a shaky head jig, with a big senko/trick worm/or craw. (((If you don't feel chunky rocks, or structure your spinning your wheels ***very important**))) my mentor told me back a couple years ago, it's not the rock piles. It's a particular rock in the rock piles... When you launch at the ramp before sunrise check the rocks at the ramp. There are small crawfish about 2 inches long, and their the color of brown/with a hint of green. So green Pumpkin on the darker side of brown is what I have been favoring. Also switched up everything two weeks ago and decided to throw new things I haven't thrown in years. Drop shot working well, and pulled out some worms that I know the fish haven't seen. One thing I can tell you for sure. I am using LiveScope to scan for brush, and to pick on the crappie. I can see good bass, and they will look at the bait and just say "nope" and swim off. They are getting allot of pressure, and picky. Fish sloooooooooow. Then fish slower. If you have two boys in the boat, have one covering water with a deep crank, slow rolling a spinnerbait, or maybe working a lipless off the bottom. Have the other one work slow on chunky rocks. That's the best your going to get out of the tight lipped pattern guys, but if it will help a young one with the passion I would love to help.

Wouldn't go up past meadomere park on either side of the lake. (Just my .02)

Take care, and shoot me an IM after you get out for a day.

Prosise

have the jet skies and wake boats had enough this year or are they still blowing up the lake?