Put a lot of vibration and/or sound into the water using crackbaits, spinner baits, paddle tails, etc. The bass can't see the lure well, but they'll find it using their lateral line.
Use a slow to medium constant speed retrieve since fancy jerks will only make it harder for the bass to home in on the vibration.
Sight will also play a small role just before the strike so make sure that the bait's silhouette is easy to distinguish. Darker colors usually does this best in murky water, but close to the surface solid light colors like white and chartreuse also works.
Regarding the heavy cover you're talking about, you can rig paddletails weedless if there is a slit in the belly. You can also pull spinner baits though heavy cover no problem. If all else fails, try fishing scented Powerbait plastics on a weedless rig...