A local shop can give you some pointers and sell you some stuff that will work.

I think getting on the bottom in the warm weather as mentioned above is big. Unless it is the time of year that bass are very active (early spring, early fall) I do think you have to work harder for them. I have fished for Largemouth around Utah but not in the South.

If it's legal, a good ol' fashioned night crawler will usually work wonders, especially more successful for kids than retrieving lures, because there is a technique to retrieving lures.