Fresh water fishing and rain

I would say it really depends on the rain and the lake. If it's a cold front type of storm then the bite definitely shuts down but if it's the 4th cold front in as many weeks then the bass may be feeding. Warm rains are obviously the best.

The lake comes into play because spotted bass act different than smallies which are different than white bass ect. I have caught white bass many times in the rain and have seen the most epic bite yet on a rainy mothers day. I have also seen the nicer grade lmb bite turn on in the rain but that is almost always later in the year. Good luck learning bass it can be a ton of fun.     

Kitties don't care about the rain 

Im not sure about other fish species, but last year around June I think, My friend and I went bass fishing in Lake Sonoma on pb. It was expected to rain real hard that day and we were the only boat on the water. We were soaked from head to toe fishing for 8 solid hours (We thought our snowboarding apparel would be sufficient, we were so wrong ) Anyways, we were throwing all kinds of lure with little luck until we switched to dropshotting a roboworm. It was one of the best bass fishing trip I've had. We caught around 50 (more or less) assorted bass between the two of us and it was pouring like a mother. I guess the right lure would get the job done raining or not. My friend switched and tried to get a crankbait bite while I sticked with dropshot. He stopped catching fish while I kept reeling them in.

i am still trying to figure this out, but from my experience, this is what i've blamed....
~ Fullmoons are not a good time to fish
~ water clarity is a big factor
~ pressure change will change the bite

cleaning the house on raining days is the best way to go...just be ready to roll as soon as it stops.