You don't want to be retrieving it high up in the water column. However, if you start actually bumping bottom, instantly raise your rod tip higher and reel faster. Bass and bait can be found anywhere on the broad expanses of these wind-swept flats. As an angler, you really won't be able to predict where the bass will be on such broad flats. And once again, the loud rattling noise will call them in to you from a distance like no other lure can, and once sighted, the quick retrieve, heavy vibration, flash and shape of the bottom-hugging lure will trigger aggressive strikes from active bass.
Traps are also good to use on bare banks that break, either quickly or gradually, into deeper water.
It is important to keep the boat far back from the first break to deep water. Do not bring the boat over that first break. Respect that natural boundary and you will keep shallow bank fish unalarmed. They will feel protected as long as you do not try to occupy the shallow space with them. They will take flight if your boat crosses over the berm into the shallows.