I agree with Iconn4 that we are still a few weeks/months out. Bass just aren't chasing many things right now, have us hunkered down using finesse presentations off the bottom: Ned Rigs, Drop Shots, etc.
If you have pads, what I like best is to throw down the long edge of pads for any bass that are sort of lying in wait along it to ambush. This should be weightless as the water lily pads grow in is shallow. If they aren't there, but back deeper in the pads, just toss them on top, let them sit for a second, then drag them off into open water to another pad. Bass sitting underneath can feel their presence, see shadows, and will often grab them as they appear to be swimming from one to the next. Sort of like top water frogs.
There are no better plastics, none that I have found, than Keitechs. I prefer the Easy Shiners.
Brad