How do i fish catch small mouth b when they aren't biting?

ok. went fishing this mornin in northern michigan. water was surprisingly clear and we seen LOADS of smally's. BUT THEY WERENT BITING AT ALL!!!?!?!?! i prolly seen 25 NICE b in about 3-6 ft of water. i threw everything in the box from crawlers, to cranks, to top water... NOTHING. i did see alot of bait fish in shallow and MAY flys did hatch about 4 days ago. Could this be the reason why? Also i was Very mad because there was a guy about 60-80 yrds away from me in a boat just slaying b. I DONT GET IT AT ALL. PLZ FISHERMEN... HELP!