Well a couple of people on here and tackle shops told me this was a good bait for my situation...

RRichards - what you have there is called a spinner bait. Many bass have been caught on these throughout the years, and many bass tournaments have been won with them.

The head is already weighted, so you don't need to add any additional weight. Tie your line directly to the steel wire loop at the bend in the wire. Looking at your picture, the loop on your yellow bait is just above the head. Don't use a snap swivel on these because the swivel will slide down the wire and the bait won't work correctly.

To use a spinner bait, you cast it out, let it fall to a certain depth and reel it in. Because the bait is weighted, the longer you wait after casting it, the deeper it will run. You can work this bait in many ways because it is so versatile. Sometimes you want to start reeling it in as soon as it hits the water, sometimes you want it deeper. If you notice that bass are surfacing, run the bait right on top of the water. It can be "burned" across the water or reeled just fast enough to keep the spinners spinning. You can also reel it for a bit, stop your retrieve, pump your rod tip to make the skirt flare, then start reeling again. As with any other type of artificial bait, you have to experiment and let the fish tell you what is going to work.

I've already answered this question, 4 days ago, in "the collage lake" thread.