Fishing Sparse vegitation?!

Was fishing spares vegitation the other day, it mostly consisted of pads. I found most of the bass were near the bank and some could be found scattered around.

I fished the KVD caffeine shad and it did VERY well. You can cast it out and work a lot of area. U can swim it, jerk it, and let it fall still like a senko. I also fished a spinnerbait and a frog, spinnerbait- caught a few, and the frog was good at points but a lot of missed hooksets. Here's what I'm getting at:

I really wanted to pitch a jig or creature plastic. I tied one on but didn't stick it out too long.. The caffeine shad worked so well it was hard not to throw it.. I found pitching I couldn't cover as much water with it, so I stuck with the shad to give me long casts and cover much more area.

How do you guys approach a large sparse area of vegitation? What is the best technique to locate bass?!

thanks