Let me just set the record straight. The south side of the Lake in the rochester area is not "dead" as it relates to smallmouth. As the ecosystem has changed, so have the bass. As a kid, my old man and myself, like so many others used to go to Hedges, without electronics, drifting with bass minnows and worms and crush Smallies one after another. You'd just join the middle of the pack and drift until you found them. Unfortunately the bass do not school up in this area like the used to. Blame the zebra mussels, gobies, global warming, whatever they simple do not school up in any one spot like they once did. They are spread out.
I have a special place in my heart for smallmouth bass. Maybe it's the memories of fishing at hedges as a kid with my old man....I don't know....Either way I have landed two beautiful fish in the last two trips....that works out to 1 fish every two hours. You just have to have patience and get lucky. The trolling is probably the best bet but unfortunately I'm not really set up for it, simply because you cover more water. But on a day that has a good drift working it's almost the same.
To answer your question Krux, I've been bouncing power baits off the bottom, with a jig head and spinner and tipped with a minnow.