Hey Jim,
Great question - hard to answer.
For fish that are following your lure, something is
almost right. That's usually the time when I experiment with colors. For instance, I know that if fish are following or short-striking spinnerbaits, the first thing to change is the color of the blade. And it's a subtle change such as switching the back blade to silver on a double-gold bladed bait or vice-versa. If that doesn't do the trick, I'll switch to a chartruese/white skirt from an all-white skirt, or maybe just change the color of the trailer. Again, don't make sweeping changes (like to a completely different spinnerbait), just fine-tune the colors until they take the bait.
The main thing to consider when "listening to the fish" is to pay attention. Take Goodwin last weekend for example. Keri and I were throwing/skipping grubs under and around docks and getting no bites. However, I noticed on several occasions fish following the lure out and/or striking it when we reeled back in to cast again. On a hunch, I advised Keri to switch to a crankbait. Wham! 3 1/2 pounder. We both switched to crankbaits and got 7 or 8 keepers in the boat.
As for locating fish, it's like Russ said - If you've thoroughly fished the water column in an area with no bites, move on. Once you find where they are, they aren't going to move far if a front moves through. They have 2 choices, move shallow or deep, and neither will be far. Russ guessed correctly, they moved into the cover. However, had he not had a bite within an hour or so, it's easy to surmize dragging a Carolina rig in nearby deep water would've been the trick.
Here's an article that may shed some additional light on the subject:
http://bassresource.com/features/establishing_pattern.htmlHope that helps!