Saturday morning I fished a lake heavy with weeds and full of stick ups.  It was a bright sunny day, & I began flippin' the weeds on the sunny side of the creek thinking the bright sun would have the fish tight to the cover of the weeds but I got nothing.  I then moved to the shady side and began to get bites on a Texas rigged motor oil lizard.

Please give me your thoughts about fishing the sunny or shady side!

It depends on the situation, but for me, I always will try the shady side first. When the water is cold and its winter(I live in Colorado), then I will try the sunny side first.(assuming the lake isnt froze!!!) ;D

Ditto, when its hot, I want shade, but bass like low light conditions anyway, and shade does both, cooler water and better ambush spots in low light condition.

Matt

I will always target the shady side of any type of cover in the summer time. Like Matt said, cooler water, less light, and excellent ambush point. In the winter time i could see how it could be either side. Bass may be on the sunny side to help warm themselves, but will only tolerate the light in their eyes for so long before getting back in the shade (depending on how mild the winter may be) or heading for deeper water. I usually target the sunny side though in the winter assuming that the bass will not be heading back to the shady side when done sunning themselves, but heading back to deeper water.

early morning fish close to cover, shady side should produce all day long and keep the largemouths there, in the early morning i dont think bass care about sun or shadiness but i know for one thing the majority of them are in the shallows

Predators usually lurk in dark places if available. It's a great cover. I don't think bass have an aversion to sunlight. They just like to eat and make babies. A bass hanging out in full sunlit water would probably go very hungry. Mr. Bluegill to Mr. Crappie: "Hey, look at big ole Mr. Bass over there in the middle of town square. He ain't scarin me. I ain't gittin close to him." A minute later Mr. Bluegill passes by a stickup, and Mrs. Bass nails him outta the shadow. Mr. Crappie yells out "It's a SETUP. Run for yer lives." It's the way it is down there. Murder in the shadows.  

Jim

Yup shady spots are usually the best places because fish relate to it as cover.If you take a white tub and put a few bass in it they will be all over it however if you place a board over one section of the tub to cause a shadow you will find the bass will converge in that shady spot.

If its early in the day Iand over weeds I like to throw where the sun meets the shade over the bed

I rarely catch anything in the sun, even in deeper water. If the sun is high I want sunscreen, lilly pads and cover. Deadfall, docks, shady weed lines, or anywhere an overhanging tree provides some shade.

Shade. I still wouldn't pass up the sunny side, especially if I was throwin a spinnerbait. More flash in the sunny side, and I can run right up on the weeds with a spinner. So yea... both.

shady side first!!!

I just got back from Black Lake, NY and the Bass there sure like it under the mats all day long the thicker it is the more they seemed to like it. 8-)

you should try shady places first but i noticed in windy days bass can be cought in sunny places as well

I fish shade very similar to the way that I fish grasslines.  I try to get my bait as close to the "line" where sun and shade meet and fish that first and foremost.  I've had a lot of strikes from bass rushing out of cover in the shade to slam my spinnerbait or crankbait that was meandering around in the sunlight.  The best way to consistantly catch fish, especially big fish, is to give them exactly what they want.  That's an easy meal and thats what we should be attempting to mimic most of the time.  Whether it's a jig, spinnerbait, crankbait, soft plastic, or topwater, I attempt to run the line first before busting into the shadows.  It produces pretty well.