I am beginning and am selecting a spot mostly based on its nature and relationship to the rest of the lake (structure, depth, bait fish...).

However, it seems that everyone else around me is able to see where fish are. I keep on hearing "there's 3 bass there in a whole but they won't bite", or even worse last week I was fishin, some guys pulled over in a pickup, looked around the bank, and took off signaling this was a bad deal....just by looking!

I can see a fish in the water, but I can't seem to get the technique behind looking for Bass. Does it matter? Is there a trick? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Stick to what you're doing, but remain flexible (open to learning).

Unless you're actually fishing beds, there's really no need to look for bass,

in fact, most bass that you can see, can also see you.

some guys pulled over in a pickup, looked around the bank, and took off signaling this was a bad deal....just by looking!

Lost stash??

Roger

Maybe they are looking for a certain weed in the water or clarity.

You don't need to see a bass to catch them.  I hate when I can see a bass but they don't bite.

Keep fishin

Yeah... if you can see them, they most likely see you.  I bet I can count the fingers on one hand the bass I've caught by actually "seeing" them first.  I two young daughters like to watch the panfish nibble at their worm but sight is not really important in fishing in general.  However... you do have a better chance with a good pair of polarized sunglasses.

If that doesn't work, you can try this gadget...

http://www.letmom.com/choose/home/underwater-video-camera-fshtv-p-169451.html

"there's 3 bass there in a whole but they won't bite"

In order for them to say that either the water is really clear, they have an underwater camera system, or they left the fish ID on their depth finder.  If it's the last case then they are probably fooling themselves.

I am reassured. These are just people walking around the lake and fishing with no particular tools (underwater camera or gps finder). I thought I was missing something.

The guys walking around the bank looking for fish, determining whether or not they would stick around really got to me. Glad to see this isn't too much of an issue.

Will look into polarized sunglasses thought, thanks a bunch.