I went fishing yesterday for around 6 hours. I spent most of the time fishing senkos. as soon as I got there to the first spot I rigged a senko/fat ika and fished it for around 2 hours. I got nothing. then I went with a rat l trap, cranks, frogs and other worms and got nothing. I realized something though, I saw something that a Ranger confirmed later, the lake has what they call sardines(shad) and thats the main food source of the local bass. The lake also has blue gill and it may have craws but in little amounts. I didnt get a bite but my uncle(who has been fishing bass here for 15 years) tells me that since the levels of the reservoir are high, the sardines are in the shallows eating from the vegetation(saw this myself today, they were eating some kind of moss) since they are eating in the shallows the bass are feeding pretty much exclusively on shad.

I have two options that I can think of, I can keep trying and struggling until it goes down and gets much better, or I can visit another lake. Find new water is what I will do for the moment.

Should I use lures that mimic a shad in this lake?

I would certainly give shad imitators a try. If the bass are right up in the weeds feeding on the shad, a fluke or slug type lure would stay fairly weedless and let you fish right in the cover. Silver minnow spoons do a fair job as well.

Don't get too discouraged, I got skunked on my home lake last week and I have been fishing that water for 30 years. They call it fishing for a reason.