Serious question fellas... Been fishing an old converted gravel pit with lots of weeds and beautiful bass in it. Not exactly sure of it's depth. Over the summer my daughter and I were pulling 14-16 inch smallmouth out left and right. Saw a guy pull a 21 incher out couple of months ago. We used purple Crawlers and topwater lures. Over the last month or so, with the change in the weather up here Michigan, the fish don't seem to be going after things at all. I've come to the realization that I'm doing something very wrong. Not sure what it is though. Are there different approaches that go with the changing of the seasons? Different lures and depth focus? Can anybody help a frustrated fisherman out? Don't be stingy with the info please. I really want to get back to catching some fish..........

General rule of thumb i use is once it starts getting colder start using live bait instead of plastics, the bass try to fatten up and will eat whatever seems more fattening to them.

Are there any particular types of live baits that anyone would suggest?

 Big minnows, But it realy makes it hard to C&R them. They tend to get gut hooked with live bait.

You could tri thouse circle hooks with live bait that may cut down on the gut hooking

other than minnows tri cray fish small blue gills or a big night crawler.

Or tri a sinko fished realy slow  

i would rather fish with hardbaits like crankbaits and topwaters than either soft plastic or live bait.

problem is that in florida with so many shallow weedy, high temp lakes, soft plastics and live shiners are often the ticket

i don't mind the soft plastics so much, but even though shiner fishin can be alot of fun it's got the highest mortality rate on the bassies. they too often sallow that hook

Fish BIG shiners on a #6 Gamakatsu Circle Hook, split shot rig. You will catch LOTS of smallmouth and some of them might be HUGE! You will rarely (never) have a gut hook, trust me.

I would suggest using MF spinning equipment and #6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft (green). If your water is gin clear, go with #4 Yo-Zuri Hybrid (original formula). I emphasize line because it makes a BIG difference.