I really enjoy teaching youngsters this sport and had a eight grader I first took fishing when he was six years old ask me: “ Papa Joe, why are you fishing a shallow running crankbait in 15ft. of water?”  I had taught him early on that cranks work best when they’re digging, or deflecting off the bottom, bumping cover, or ripped free of the weed tops. To him, I wasn’t practicing what I preached.

It dawned on me that, for many anglers, that is the only way they fish cranks and they’re missing out on the other instances where cranks really shine.  A crank doesn’t need to deflect off of something to produce its strike triggering quality. We can impart that on our own, at any depth and that is why cranks are more versatile than most anglers are aware of. 
A stop and go retrieve can, and does trigger strikes when there isn’t cover, or structure to bounce it off, but using your rod to impart erratic action to one is much more effective. Crank the lure down to its running depth and twitch, sweep, or rip your rod tip to impart more of that strike triggering quality of the bait. Plus that pause you get from a stop and go retrieve is an added bonus when you go to pick up the slack line. Don’t concern yourself if the bait rolls on its side as that is what frequently occurs when you bump cover.

Suspended fish will respond to a crank presented in this manner more frequently than a finesse presentation and you can cover a lot more water at a ‘target’ depth. 
My little fishing buddy continues to improve his angling skills by asking questions. He’ll be out fishing me in no time. 

 

 

Yup ~ Totally Agree.

I've been fishing a flat sided squarebill early & late season, 

in shallow(er) water, like described above by @papajoe222 for a while now. 

With fair amount of success.

 

(Note -  Regrettably, the bass in this clip was leaking pretty good but did swim off when released)

A-Jay

 

I hardly ever deflect my cranks off of anything and they are my best producing bait as of now. I fish from shore mainly these days so I just fish them that way a lot. Between the rattles and the action of the bait there's plenty for fish to notice.