I am relatively new to the sport but extremely serious about learning to fish bass.  I took my son out for his first time last June and became addicted myself.  I had a great summer - cathcing nice size bass almost every time out.  My go-to lure was copper, glod and silver Mepps spinners #2 with dark skirts.  Even in warm weather, it seemed like retreiving very slow worked best.  This was great until the fall when the weather changed.  When I couldnt catch anything anymore I did some research and started changing colors, I tried plastics of all sizes and colors - suspended and on the bottom, crank baits of all sizes, top water lures, and everything else except a freaking spear gun. 

This spring is no different.  I've been out at all times during the day - 5-8pm seems to be when the fish are most active.  Good thing I have a lot of patience.  I know the fish are there - what the hell are they eating?  I dont have a boat yet so Im stuck fishing from shore or off a dock in stained water.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.

During the Spring and Fall it's not so much about lure selection. LOCATION is key in those seasons. In fall the bass are schooled up chasing bait. In Spring the bass have love on their minds.

Summer finds bass spread out just about everywhere which would explain wny you caught fish in that season and not Spring/Fall.

Your luck should change soon. In any event, pick up some soft stickbaits like the Senko. Texas rig it with a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG hook, cast it out and let it catch fish for you. There are tons of tips on this site regarding color selection, how to fish it, etc....

During the Spring and Fall it's not so much about lure selection. LOCATION is key in those seasons. In fall the bass are schooled up chasing bait. In Spring the bass have love on their minds.

Summer finds bass spread out just about everywhere which would explain wny you caught fish in that season and not Spring/Fall.

Your luck should change soon. In any event, pick up some soft stickbaits like the Senko. Texas rig it with a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG hook, cast it out and let it catch fish for you. There are tons of tips on this site regarding color selection, how to fish it, etc....

Exactly! 

Great advice.

8-)

X3. Dead on advice as to why you lost track of them in fall. BTW: That Mepps is a great coolwater bait too, IF you can get it in front of them.

Suggestion, since you are serious: Get the book In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies; They have one for Largemouth and Smallmouth. It will introduce you to seasonal patterns, and a whole lot more.

Paul Roberts is right.  The In-Fisherman formula ( Fish + Location + Presentation = Success) is a great place to start.

Read RW's (or was it LBH's) writeup on how to catch fish with a Senko and/or Fat Ika and follow it to a "T"

Since you're stuck on shore and since you have no topo maps of your lake, and since you have no clue where and what the structure is on your lake, you have to do some guess work. 

If I'm you, I'm spending a truck load of time walking around the lake with polarized sunglasses.  I'm going to be looking for things that matter to an angler and a bass.  Things like humps.  Things like brush under the surface.  Rocks and boulders.  Changes in the surface of the bottom like if it goes from rocky to sandy.  All these things can be seen from shore at the right pond or lake.  You should also be paying attention to what's going on on land as well.  Take a windy point for example. This is a feature that matters to bass, and should matter to you as well. 

Dont just walk to the lake or pond aimlessly while thinking of all the difficulties of the day, or who won the playoff game last night.  Be thinking about BASS! 

Notice as you are walking to your lake, how perhaps a 100 yard long grassy area on the South shore suddenly turns into a much more rocky area, where there's lots of big boulders.  When this happens on land, many times it's continuing/extending out into the water as well.   Bass love these spots sometimes so you might as well notice them, and fish them while you're there as opposed to just throwing in some random spot and preying.

It's not "Lure" advice you should be worried about.  If you're "on fish" you're going to catch them once you thow some baits at them.  Worry about WHERE you're fishing, not WHAT you're fishing.

Lastly, we're in the spring time. It's spawn and pre spawn time.  Start fishing flatter areas that have access to deep water.  Fish those edges, and fish cover and any noticeable structure near spots like that and see what happens.  Go out there with a plan of attack.  A strategy.  Use correct tactics within your strategy and it will come together.

Here ya go:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1158577137

YES! The article the RW wrote about Senko fishing is awesome. I did just what he said, down to the line selection, and this was the result.

A 3# 11oz LMB. My new pb! This was on my third cast.

Try it johnnylots and you will catch fish.

Thanks for the great article RW. ( btw I am still trying the jig thing but no luck yet)

Greatly appreciated advice from all of you - especially Bass_Akwards and Bassnleo!  Ill see what happens and report back.