Bass Fishing - my favorite hobby! I will reiterate what dingbat said .. take some time and try to learn what is in the area and duplicate its look. But also, think about how it moves and duplicate that too. You did right with the lizard on the pads instead of pulling 2 ft under water because that's what lizards do. If you'd had a super salty finesse worm - it probably wouldn't have taken it because worms swim in the water, usually pretty close to the surface (about 1 to 2 feet). Oh, and bass love salt, so you can't go wrong with zoom products infused with salt.
The smartest fish I have ever fished for was trout, and large mouth bass is the second. LMB's are a predator fish, and very inquisitive. Some times you feel like you have a nibble and go to set the hook and -- nothing. It's because bass will suck in stuff they are curious about and spit it back out. It's their way of saying "hey whats that?" since they don't have fingers. You'll almost never be able to set the hook on that. If they run with it and you try to set the hook too fast, they will spit it out. If they run and you let them - they will spit it out thinking "hey this thing isn't even trying to get away, i don't want that!" . The trick is to learn when to set the hook. I usually watch my line in the water and as soon as he changes direction a give a little pull, then a set. They are also very intrigued with shiny, so spinners work well to get their interest. Make sure it has a treble hook so that when it tries to spit it back out it has a better chance of hooking itself.
Bass love structure. Look for docks, trees underwater, anything that can give them shelter. They really don't have many predators in the water except themselves, but they still hang out around stuff that hides them. Its more about what comes around for them to snag and eat than hiding from a threat. Bigger LMB's will eat smaller bass. And they can eat something 1/3 its size. And since they are predatory fish, their eyes look forward and up. They will sometimes go for stuff dragging the bottom, but not usually. The best times to fish for them are dusk and dawn because they have great eyesight, and they see forward and up, so at those times the light angle to the water makes it harder for them to see you above the water line.
Most importantly - have fun and don't get frustrated. My boys don't like to fish, they just don't get it. I tell them "Sometimes you go fishing to catch fish, but sometimes you just go to go fishing". I've never had a lousy day fishing, but have had way more days of an empty creel than days of it being full.