Beatin' the bank

[NCYankee]

Unfortunately I don't have a boat, so I usually fish small lakes (20-50 acres). I recently found a new lake about 20 minutes from my house. It has tons of stumps, some laydowns, and aquatic plants. Several people have told me they have caught 5-10lbers in the lake.

So anyway, I went to the lake and two guys just put in an 8 foot pond boat with trolling motor. They circled the lake casting spinners and cranks at the shore. They were on the water for about an hour. They didn't catch anything (nor did I). The air temperature was 55 and I'm sure the water temperature was no warmer.

Why do so many people think the best way to catch bass is to beat the bank. It's frickin winter. I couldn't stop thinking that if I had their boat, I sure wouldn't be fishing shallow water (<6ft). The lake is probably about 15+ft deep. I think many people catch a lot of bass in the spring beating the bank, so they think that is the only way to bass fish.