The point I'm trying to get across here is that covering a lot of water is not the only factor involved in catching bass in a tournament situation, particularly when the fish are sluggish and bites are hard to come by. The internal keys here are finding one or two key areas, realizing those spots as key areas and then having the patience to stick with those areas until the fish bite. The most obvious sign is bass. There also are secondary signs to look for. Take birds, for instance.
Blue herons fish for a living, too.
So if you see several of them hanging around a certain area as I did at Sinclair, you can bet there are baitfish and bass nearby. Still another tell-tale sign are baitfish that spook when a lure hits the water. The location of key areas tends to vary with the season the year and what frame of mind the bass are in. But the ingredients are fairly generic. Most key areas will usually have some sort of bottom cover available such as logs, stumps, grass or brush.