Still better than "Not sure if they are there, didn't go"!
I love fishing artificial as much as possible and have excelled in recent years with it but (always the dreaded but...) it always seems, at least for me, that during the fall (regardless of the weather) the fish are putting on the feed bags and meat is the way to go. The local lake I fish a lot can usually be counted for dozens of fish on plastics during the summer. Went about a week ago and couldn't get a hit on plastics yet we took all of our fish with meat (minnows).
One thing that has NOT happened yet. Normally, during this time of year, the lakes in our area have "turned over". The colder bottom water is rolled to the top while the warm water on top goes to the bottom. This usually brings fish out of the depths of summer and into a fall feeding pattern as they are closer to the surface and the cool water/oxygenated water. Last I checked the local lakes, they are still running very hot keeping the fish in those summer holding areas. They might swim up to a bait and look at it for 5 minutes before they decide to eat it. They don't like to chase the forage in hot water so they won't go a great distance to hit a bait.
You did however make a vallient effort.
I see you are in Howell. I'm over in the Dansville area. Fish a ton around Pinckney. I have a ton of lakes in that area you can fish for crappies.
I have OCD "Obsessive Crappie Disorder"