My first question isn't what...its where. This is the main question in bass fishing. Most of the time, if the fish isn't biting its because you aren't on them. I used to think that fish just didn't bite either but since my friend and I started fishing tournaments I realized that even when we aren't catching them somebody else is. Bass are both apex predators and opportunistic eaters. They won't pass up an easy meal.
Given my location...Kentucky...I can only tell you what I expect bass to be doing right now. If I am on the water Saturday and the sky is bright and the water is clear (which is usually the case in summer) I have already made several assumptions. I figure they are going to be deeper (12-18 feet seems to be a good estimate based on other information and experience from previous summers). I will also assume that since there is little to no cloud cover, the bass will be holding tight to cover. That automatically eliminates a whole lot of water in the lake that I fish.
There are a few hollers and coves that provide standing timber at this depth. My friend and I will hit this when we are in the mood to flip all day. We also like to target points. There are several on my lake and they almost always seem to hold bass. There are also a few spots we are just finding where a channel meets a large flat. Along the edge of the channel are several stumps. This is the area that is currently producing for us now. If we start here and don't catch anything on our usual baits which consists of jigs and large soft plastics, we scale down our offerings. My buddy is really getting into shakey head fishing and he has put several decent fish in the boat quite fast with this technique. This usually does the trick.
If we go out and there is good cloud cover, we first focus our attention to the same areas as above. Usually the clouds will make them more active as they become harder for baitfish to see. They don't have to rely so much on ambushing their prey. That might mean that they are not as concentrated but they should still be in the same general vicinity.
I think you may be placing too much emphasis on colors as well.
My soft plastic and jig boxes are made up of a whole bunch of differing shades of brown and green. I also have a black jigs that I throw when the water is muddy or when I am tired at looking at the other colors. That is it. I know that isn't the case with everyone but that is what I have found to work best for me.
What I do is use those natural brown and green colors whenever the water is clear or slightly stained. When the water is dirty or muddy you can really load the boat using black or even some brighter colors such as bubblegum or chartreuse. That is also not a solid rule and I have seen days when the bass don't pay attention to color at all.
If you are fishing in the right places, the fish will let you know what they want.
I will admit that I am not much of a crankbait fisherman so hopefully someone will fill you in on what they do with these types of baits.
I didn't mean to type so much. I wish I could tell you a lot more but I am just learning the ropes myself. I hope I at least haven't confused you more.
Good luck.
