Went out on a local lake saturday and the last hour found  a cove full of big bass.  They were swimming around in pairs in shallow water at the head of the little cove.  water depth was about 2 feet.  There were a lot of bait fish from bluegill, crappie at the mouth of the cove and shad at the head of the cove.  Managed to pull 4 small bass (12-13inches) out of the cove but could not get the bigger bass to hit.  They were acting really shy.  There were also injured buegill and crappie swimming around.  Just wondering if you guys had any tips, going back out tomorrow.  Should i pull out of the cove and fish the points or go up in the cove and try to sight fish.   Oh and alot of small bass 5 inches sunning at the top of the water.  The weather is calling for rain and 65 degrees tomorrow.  Just looking for some help anything is appreciated. P.S. i live in eastern ky.  So the big bass i found, doesn't happen very often. 

Which lake are you fishing in ky??

You don't want to get too close to cruising bass, if you see them, back off; that is too close.

Try using a surface/sub surface wake bait; a jointed floating 5" Rapala may work, for example. A swimbait like a (Matts) bluegill, crappie or shad should work for you. If those don't trigger a strike; try a jerk bait like a soft Fluke or Smithwick Rogue.

The chances the bass are still in the areas depends if the baitfish are there. Good luck.

WRB

I second WRB's soft jerkbait suggestion and stay as far away from them as you can.  Good luck

The lake I was on Saturday was Dewey lake, which is in Floyd county.   I'll try all yor suggestions and i will let you know how it pans out.  Thank you for your ideas.

Personally, I would throw something VERY finnese like. Nothing that makes a big splash or wake.

Something you might try is to get as far away as you can, cast a jig or creature bait against the bank, ease it into the water and crawl it. 

Personally, I would throw something VERY finnese like. Nothing that makes a big splash or wake.

Something you might try is to get as far away as you can, cast a jig or creature bait against the bank, ease it into the water and crawl it.

Love that idea.

i went back caught 23, but they were all dinks. maybe next time.  the fish were not there, the bait fish had moved.  thanks for all the replies.

Personally, I would throw something VERY finnese like. Nothing that makes a big splash or wake.

Something you might try is to get as far away as you can, cast a jig or creature bait against the bank, ease it into the water and crawl it.

x3 on this one....this way you don't run the risk of spooking the bass. Good luck man!

Your shad might be spawning or because of the wind the shad might be held up there because of food source and predators follow. If the fish are real spooky then you need to make long casts and bring the bait to the fish not on top of them. You want to target the edge of the shad more than the fish them self because they would be more active. Not to say you couldn't pick off individual fish. It just would be harder. Fishing the shad I would fish a jerkbait or a senko. Fishing individual fish I would fish a wacky rig senko. Fishing the group of fish that might be staged out in deeper water waiting for the shad to come out I would tackle them with a jerkbait, crankbait or a Carolina rig fluke.

You said there was a lot of floating baitfish, I wonder if it is possible that maybe the Bass just had too much to eat.

Also don't overlook a simple bait like a sassy shad on a jig head.

4 inch watermelon black fleck senko wacky rigged with a 1/0 octupus hook.

You said there was a lot of floating baitfish, I wonder if it is possible that maybe the Bass just had too much to eat.