In Minnesota the bass are still up in the shallows. The morning bite has been especially good for me the past few weeks.

 

after around 11 or so, however, things start to slow down where I can't seem to buy a bite.

 

what tactics should I use to increase my odds?  Where do the bass go?  Close to cover?  Deeeper?  Looking for something new to try.

 

 

 

Are you using top water in the morning? Switch to something moving, but lower in the water column, swim jig, chatterbait, or maybe try a senko if they've just shut down on you. I notice they bite good in the morning and evening, but during the height of the day they definitely slow down. 

Happened to me today

 

Switched to punching and throwing stick baits at stumps and laydowns and started catching them again.

I fished a power plant lake today and had the same thing happen. I went offshore and fished some main lake points with steep drop offs with a shaky head christie craw and caught quite a few more fish.

Same thing happening here. Finding shade would be my first suggestion. If you can find deeper water that is shaded, like docks, or along a bluff, that would be a good place to start.

are the fish pre or post spawn?

I would start deeper....vary retrieve speed....seek out shade.

 

(I've always done better where the shade ends.)

4 hours ago, Scarborough817 said:

are the fish pre or post spawn?

Post spawn

 

Another BR'r in another thread (Punch) suggested that they are much tighter to cover. So fishing holes in the weeds might be a productive tactic which I agree with.  I think this advice is similar to the shade advice. 

 

As for going deeper, I did go a bit deeper but still couldn't find them. 

 

The conditions on I was faces with was mostly sunny partly cloudy.  Thanks for all of the suggestions. Keep em coming. 

I was punching spatterdock and lots of it.  The ones I caught were in 3 or 4 fow under junk mats.  Dead spatterdock mixed with pads that were laying over.  Healthy standing spatterdock didnt hold any fish as it let in a lot more light.

The bass  usually bite better early and late in shallow water .  There are a number of things to try .Fishing  deeper into cover . Search out structure .   Go junk fishing and hope to make a cast or two that leads you in the right direction .

 

 If you get a hunch try it .  I was fishing a club tourney and couldnt buy a bite and time was running out . I got the crazy idea that bass were lure shy and getting too good a look at the lures . I took a Bomber Long A Minnow in silver flash and casted it past a stump on the shady side , then retrieved it as fast as I could . An Ogre swallowed it . Did the same thing to a nearby stump and got another . Those two fish weighed l3  lbs and  won the tourney .      Keep plugging away and sometimes  a pattern is stumbled onto .

This often happens to me as well. If it's a bright,sunny day I start skipping under docks and it usually produces well.I have also done well slowly fishing deeper holes with a variety of baits.I caught several fish over six pounds one july fishing a deep hole slowly with a 10 inch Mann's jelly worm.

Sometimes it's also a mindset.What I mean is that you get used to the bite slowing down at that time of day so you may start fishing too fast to compensate.

Some of my biggest fish have come in the middle of the day. So keep your confidence up,relax and enjoy your time on the water.