No cover

[tall_paul]

I'm a beginner and have read many articles about the best places to catch bass is where there is 'cover'. I fish at a lake that every inch of shoreline is lined with cottages and sea walls. What are you recommendations. I appreciate your help.

[MississippiBoy]

Boat docks or slips are usually good. Don't be afraid to cast underneath and around them. Get as far back behind the pilings as you can. Also the sea walls can be good, especially if they turn and angle around, so you can cast to the corners.
Look for vegetation, such as lily pads or different types of grass...those are usually good places to start.
Basically, you're keying in on anything that's different than what's around it. One stump or fallen tree kind of by itself, one little patch of grass or lily pads, etc. If you have a big area of the pads or grass, look for the differences in that area...openings in them, thicker patches, places where grass and pads meet, a single log in the pad field, where grass is close to or around a dock....
DIFFERENCES is what you really need to concentrate on.

[Bassboss]

Sounds like a shallow crankbait, and a buzzbait would do well. Try to fish parallel to the seawalls if you can. If you can't, toss it out, fish the first 5' of the wall, and then quickly reel it back in to get the bait out of "dead water" and make another cast back into strike zone (close to the seawall).

A drop shot would also be a pretty killer bait when the fish are a little less active... Pitch it to the see wall, let it sink VERTICALLY fish it out a few feet from the wall, and wind it back fast as you can to make another pitch.

Try to find logs, along the seawall (and even trees close to the bank providing a shadow), as they will more than likely hold fish.

When the sun is at the right angle... fish the shallow line the wall makes, fish will often treat this just as they would a weedline.

In a lake that is pretty common across the board, make sure you pay good attention to where you caught the fish. Was it in a bend along the wall, a large crack or crevice, etc. Ask your self this ever time you catch a fish, try to put a pattern together, chances are if one fish, and than another in a similar area, you've found a pattern, so focus on areas like that, and avoid that dead water.

[Lvitch]

Cover is usually considered things like grass, weeds, trees, shade etc. Structure is things like drop offs , points, flats, creek channels, changes In bottom type, sea walls, generally things that don't change much. Boat docks, stumps and trees are kind of both. Usually ,cover on or neer structure is considered prime location. What I look for is prime ambush location. Sea walls are great, bass will herd baitfish into the wall where they have no where to go. Docks provide structure and cover (shade) and are good as well especially in the middle of the day. Try and think like a fish, if home is deep water access, which home provides close access to the easiest feeding opportunity. I like poppers and rapala type baits near the walls and worms and cranks around docks. Try and bang the bait off the pilings on the retrieve. It may take several casts (6-10) to the same piling to get a fish to bite but if their around them their usually good fish. Hope that helps.