For what it's worth, I'll throw in on a specific lure and technique. Username checks out, so know that my smallmouth are better than 1000 miles from yours. They are both in ultra-clear, flowing rivers though.
Acquire some tube baits in natural, non-flashy colors (browns, olives) without flashy fleck. Get them small...the 2.75" are great. I've always liked the GitzIt brand, but there are others. Get some round jig heads in 1/16, 1/8 and maybe 3/8 for extra current. Get them in as short a shaft length as you can. Really helps if those tentacles are longer than the end of the hook, even if the inside bend of the hook has to cut into the body of the tube a little to get the jig all the way to the front of the tube. And as always, as light a line as you can tolerate on a spinning setup. That's bait.
As to technique: Make casts upstream at at least a 45 degree angle, maybe a 30. Match the jig weight to the current so that it gets to the bottom, but doesn't anchor. It's a delicate dance. You are going for a 'look' where you lift or twitch the jig slightly and it is light enough that it gets swept down by the current a little before falling back to the bottom on a slack line. Repeat until the bait has gotten just downstream of your position. Don't waste time bumping into the current back to the rod. 10,000 casts and I've never caught a fish dragging it upstream. All I can figure is there's something about that action of whatever the bass thinks that is, crawfish, sculpin, 'creature', that puts it in a vulnerable spot that they're temporarily at the mercy of the current that really triggers a bite. They see a bait that can swim against the current and it's not worth the chase? I don't know.
Long-winded, I know. The rib just shouted at me...bullet points!
