Strange Bass Behavior

Or maybe this is normal bass behavior and I've just never seen it before. The nights have been getting colder, but the daytime average temperature has been in the 80's. I went fishing at a local pond by my house at around 8am. I was trying the gulley fish for the first time. After the second cast I had a little bass on but he came off quickly. While I worked my way around shore I saw bass here and there, then as the sun rose higher in the sky and I could see further into the water I noticed something strange. I've seen bass hold close to shore, but never this close. The shoreline was outlined with boulders to protect it from erosion. The bass were literally in the crevices of the boulders. Sometimes there would be a small school of 5-6 bass in inches of water. Just enough to cover them. I can only imagine they were getting into the warm water. Later in the day I saw some cruising, at one time there was a school of 20. I cast my gulley to them and they scattered in all directions. I gave the gulley a twitch and I saw a shadow dart from the side to inhale it. It was my first fish on the gulley. I was surprised by the take, if I was further away I'm not sure I would have seen the fish take the fly. Or been in a good position to set the hook. I hunted more bass along the shoreline and had many more hits and misses. The fish just weren't super aggressive. The gulley might have been a little to big for them. Right before I left I saw some more bass cruising. I cast again and they disappeared. Made a twitch of the fly and a shadow slowly rose to the gully and GLUMP! The fish was caught. I'm looking forward to trying this fly some more. I can't say it works better than a popper or other flies. But I can see why it works. I also can't wait to try this pond again. It seems like the perfect place for my favorite type of fishing, sight fishing.