Well although some of the pro's call me the fish whisper-er, and I have gotten alot of the fishes secrets from them, they do have me sworn to secreacy
I do agree on that one, I think that the bigger ones do stay out alittle  deeper...or below the feeders up above them during a feeding frenzy and easly pick up the scraps or stund bait that comes down to them. (I don't really know either)  Good question their Jim? anybody?

LOL! LAMO!!

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.html

Hope that helps!

Great advice from everybody!!  Just another comment, toss out typical unproductive water each trip out.  Try not to visit areas that you have not had success before.  I know it sounds simple, but all of us have been guilty of pounding stretches of water time and again with no luck, simply because it looks fishy.  I know I have wasted hours of good fishing time beating my proverbial head against this wall. 

There have been great posts here about what the fish may do or not during a typical outing based on the weather and the season.  What is worth mentioning is taking a look at what you, the angler is doing.  THe fish may be there, but our presentation may be all messed up.  For example, I have faced exactly what Russ mentioned earlier, fish moving deeper into cover following a front, but my skills in flipping and pitching at the time, meant that the fish were safe form my temptations.  I could not present a bait in a tight spot for my life.  I knew that I had the right bait, but getting it to the fish preseted problems for me.  I lost a big lead in a tournament because of it, and I vowed to improve.  I began to spend a few more bucks for better equipment, rods, reels, trolling motors, trolling batteries, and fishing line.  I also began to practice in the house, on the deck or anytime I had some time to kill, I would pitch and flip.  It has paid off.  This is really helpful through the winter, then when spring arrives, I am ready to go, as this is the normal time for extreme changes in weather that effect our beloved bass, and there position in the cover.
Kirk

I guess it all depends what your calling a "yerk" Just kidding