I live in pennsylvania, and there are 3 decent size lakes 5 minutes away from my house. Ive fished them for years, but the last two years, I have not caught a single bass. I usually catch about 15 or so(don't fish that much as i used to). I went with my dad last weekend. IT was a really sunny day with temps in the mid 80's. The water was clear and there were sunfish and A LOT of BIG bass right smack near the shoreline. man i thought i was gonna have a blast. As it turns out, every lure i tried, the bass ignored. I tried soft plastic jerk baits,worms,frogs,some topwater,tubes,lizards,shallow crankbaits, NOTHING worked at all. I mean there was a ton of bass up near the shoreline maybe ranging from 12"-20". My question is how the heck do i catch them? This isn't even a very heavily pressured fishing lake, most people go for trout and thats earlier in the year. Me and my dad were the only people there.

hmmm...are they still in spawn there? usually during the spawning season, they don't feed, they just protect their nests. Check underneath them (with polarized sun glasses) and see if there are any beds around or near them, if there is matted brush or mud or gravel underneath them, they are still in spawning. To catch them in the spawning, you basically need to put the bait right in their face. Use a lizard (as lizards tend to eat the eggs) and make it approach the nest. The bass will think your lizard will try to eat the eggs (if they are spawning), and attack it, they won't come with full force in an aggressive attack, but they will pick it up and move it. Once you see the bass suck it up in an attempt to move it, set the hook!

However, if they are not in spawning and you see them toward the edge, try putting a bait in their face anyway. You say it's 80's...the water temp should be around 60 to 70 probably, so they should be in their best feeding habits. More than likely the bass see you and they know that you're trying to get to them, so they are ignoring your bait. Try moving a bit deeper and around cover, you will certainly find bass there!

Good luck and god bless   8-)

are you staring each other in the eye?  IF you are well seen by the bass, they will usually not bite very much, and especially not when theres a lot of noise and commotion around.  

If they were spawning here's a few good reads.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass_spawn.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/spawn_bass.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/spawning_bass_bed.html

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/dropshot_beds.html

i have no idea if their spawing or not, it rained last night, and its dtrizzling and overcast today, im probably gonna go out for a while, any ideas on what to fish today? will they still be shallow? the water may be muddy.