^^^^^great advice

Learn how to find the best shallow, mid depth, and deeper areas by studying maps
Learn how to use a fish finder--this time of year, fish above the thermocline, and take note of what depth(s) you see the bait fish. When fishing deeper, target those best areas at the depth(s) you see the bait fish.

Keep things simple.
Minimize how many rods, how many lures, and how many colors you bring.

throw a senko

I assume you fish Ivie or Possum Kingdom based on your location. I would tell you to focus on one lake and learn that lake. Don't jump around to various lakes and try to happen on fish. Like has been mentioned, use topo maps but certainly use your electronics. Find structure, docks, had spots, etc. and key on those. Take some of the guessing out by sticking with tried and true, drop shot, texas rigged worm, squarebill, and fish key spots. Use a finesse worm, senko, baby brush hog, power worm, in key colors, plum, watermelon red, and don't deviate! Have 3-4 rigs on the deck, not 36, like most of us!!

When that all seems like it's still not happening fast enough for you, call James Biggs and spend a 1/2 day with him!!! I can't stress that enough!! James can teach you more in 4 or 5 hours than most can in 50 guide trips!!

KEEP IT SIMPLE

don't over think it. Gerald Swindle says this all the time. We give these little green fish too much credit. Throw the baits your confident in and hit as many high percentage areas as possible and you will catch fish.

Work on cast accuracy and presentation, these two things can make a good angler a great angler.

If you can fish with someone better than you, do it. Different points of view will only help you.

Also, join a local club. I learned a lot from some of the fellas in our club. Hours and hours of time spent on the water will pay off. Google, Google, and Google again. You'll find tips on how to, tips on what lures to use, and how to use them. There are 1000's of videos out there and its free advice. Good luck!!

Thanks for all the great advice. I would say all of it i have heard, but the problem is all the millions of other things that I have heard along with it. These basic principles are exactly what I was looking for and need to focus on. Thanks again to those who have commented and please continue if you know of others that would help.

Drink plenty of water and wear sunscreen. Do this whether its 100 degrees or 20 degrees out.

I find that cussing a lot helps me. I am a shallow water fisherman as well, so this time of year hurts my man feelings.

Ha! I fish at night this time of year. Less boat traffic and the fish cooperate much better at night during the summer. I'm mostly a bank beater too and at night that seems to work just fine with the cooler temps. A Texas Rigged 8'' lizard does the trick for me. black with red fleck. Joining a club is the best thing I ever did to learn about fishing. Been in the same club for the last 15 years. We have a tournament tonight!

I was in the same spot earlier this year. I started getting back into fishing 2.5 years ago. I had some preconceived ideas from my youth that gave me some bad habits.

I too would beat the bank, and catch myself throwing the same thing with minimal results. The biggest change I made was selecting something I knew would work well from fishing with others, and working on it. T-RIGS. They are great for so many applications. Weedless for the most part and non expensive if I got snagged and lost them. Gradually I started fishing further away from the bank(they work great up close too.)

I have started working on different techniques and practicing them in areas that I can see how my bait moves and fish react. Luckily I have a nice pond by my work that I can pop over to one lunch breaks or hit before or after work.

I highly recommend taking your time with getting better at a single technique like T-Rigs and making it a confidence bait, then adding new techniques. Find a place to practice like a pond, that way when you are out on a lake you do not feel like you are wasting valuable time trying new things out.

Fish the lowest pressure locations you can find with a solid population of bass. By low pressure I mean lakes that get less fishing pressure. You can throw all the right lures at all the right times, but if that bass has had 100 lures drug in front of it's nose in the past 2 days your going to have a tough time. Do research to find lakes with less pressure. If you can't find a lake with less pressure then fish during lower pressure times. (Mid week, night, etc...) If you can't fish during low pressure times, then fish low pressure areas (off shore, areas where most other folks won't go). I've done a lot of research on this topic and looked at an enormous amount of data... I'm convinced that man made fishing pressure matters more any other variable. I reinforce that belief this spring when I went and fished a very remote region of the country. It didn't matter what you threw or what the weather was doing. You caught fish. Good luck out there!

-spend the day with someone like James Biggs. If you can’t find fish, you won’t catch fish.
-Join a club.

I hear a lot of people say to join a club, guess i have bad impressions of them.. fishing snobs that are not always willing to teach... in fear that I am gonna run to their spot or use their baits all the time. I have fished for 10 years or so but dont learn because i fish alone or people just as inexperienced as me, and say all you want about watching you tube... I bet I can find a video for any technique.. so no way a guy like me can choose... Maybe have to rethink the club thing...

Spend as much time on the water as you can and pay attention to where and how you catch a fish and take note and try to replicate that in similar areas of the water. Texas rigged worms, Carolina rigs, jigs and crank baits in deeper water this time of year on points, humps and creek channels with some sort of cover on them in 12 to 20 foot range. Deeper vegetation or vegetation and or stumps or cover near deeper water Early and late in the day with top water and Texas rig. Shady sides of the bank near deeper water and shady sides of docks are also good. Time on the water is the biggest deal. All of the pros are good because they have spent thousands of hours on the water and learning.