I use lots of different baits. I'm in Tennessee but fish a couple rivers that sound very similar to yours. On top I like poppers, small walkers like Sammy 85's, small 1/8 oz buzzbaits (usually black).
I like hard jerkbaits a lot too. All kinds of brands but usually in the 3"-4 1/2" range in shallow rivers depending on the size of the forage fish I see. This time of year I catch more on floaters like original rapalas, rogues, bomber long a, and lucky crafts.
Other hard baits I really like are square bills and medium depth cranks. I use all kinds from shad raps to wiggle warts. Shad raps, rapala dts, wiggle warts, bagleys, bomber a, Normans are what I use most I usually use ones that are designed to run deeper than the bottom where I am fishing and use craw colors and grind them in the bottom.
I use inlines like rooster tails and small underspins like the fish head spin with super fluke jr trailer in bait fish colors, and some spinnerbaits, but I only seem to do well with spinnerbaits after a rain when there is color in the water. Then I like the war eagle finesse spinnerbaits in 3/16 and 5/16 in spot remover and pond scum perch.
Soft jerkbaits, senkos, and trick worms weightless. I like the zoom super fluke jr, 4" senko or dinger, and white or chartreuse trick worms weightless.
I catch a lot on soft swimbaits. My favorite river bait is are the 3 inch keitech easy shiners and fat impacts, but I've used others with success.
On the bottom I like finesse jigs, usually 1/16-3/16, but sometimes I use 1/4-3/8 if it has rained or there is a lot of current. I want the bait to barely stay in place and maybe drift a little down stream like a natural crawfish if lifted off the bottom. Most of the time I drag or shake it though. Favorite colors are mixtures of greens and browns with some orange highlights like my local craws. I fish tube jigs from small bitsy tube up to 3 1/2" tubes the same way. I use these and grubs on jig heads and drag on bottom, but sometimes they like them swimmer and only scraping bottom every few feet. I use the same colors with tube jigs and grubs as with regular skirted jigs. Natural craw colors.
I Texas rig small craws, finesse worms, and small creatures also. Usually 1/8-3/16 weight and small ewg hook. Work them like the jigs and other plastics.
Colors are simple. In clear water anywhere I like to match the hatch as a fly fisherman would say. All my local craws are brown or green with orange highlights, so anything that color is what I use for craw imitating baits. I use black blue if the water is muddy though. In baits that imitate baitfish, shad, chubs, Creek minnows, panfish, and trout are what the bass in my local rivers feed on. Look around while fishing your local rivers at baitfish and turn over a few rocks to find craws. See what the main colors are and imitate that. Smallmouth and spots also like some chartreuse at times, so I always try something like sexy shad on my reaction baits, and I also dip a lot of my jig trailers and soft plastics in chartreuse and orange dye because smallies and spots seem to like it.
Other tips I can give is to walk or wade very quietly almost like hunting while fishing if the water is clear and keep movement to a minimum before you at least make a few casts in a new area. Also smallmouth and spots seem to like current better than largemouth, but all three species seem to use rocks and downed wood as ambush spots and current breaks quite a bit. I always catch more while retrieving my bait downstream with the current than upstream.
As far as equipment I usually use shorter spinning rods for everything because of overhanging trees but also because they are versatile and can fish a wide range of baits. I sometimes take a lighter baitcast outfit though because I prefer it with cranks and spinnerbaits. Line is usually 8-10lb mono or copolymer because of water clarity.
Sorry I wrote such a long post but one bait would never work for me and I've been fishing rivers for bass over 20 years. I actually fish rivers and ponds more than local larger lakes. I don't think I'm an expert by any means and I'm constantly learning new stuff like the ned rig most recently off sites like this. I just wanted to help out some of my fellow bassresource members that may not fish rivers as much.
