Time on the water. 

 

Other than that, rule of thumb is fish abnormalities and structure. When hot, fish slow. When cold, fish slow. spring and fall fish more aggressively. Clear water, natural colors. Dark water, dark colors.

 

Oh and one more thing, time on the water. Every fisherman finds a systems that produces. Put in time. 

When flippin' or pitchin' be sure to hit the "not so obvious" stuff. So many guys hit the great looking stuff as they should, but I have seen numerous times when bass are caught in an area where there was much better looking cover around.

 

Also, stay sharp on every cast. Treat it like your last cast and make em' all count. At the end of the day you'll be mentally drained, but it's always worth it!

Hot sun, wild fires, avocado salads and large clear reservoirs with rainbow trout  fattened bass make folks type obvious stuff... 

LMAO This made me laugh so hard. I agree with you so much. SoCal fishermen are ridiculously spoiled with ridiculously sized fish. An "average" nice fish is 10 pounds. Even here in Florida 10 pounders are exciting and rare.