In the river I fish the best spots are shallow spots near deep areas or relatively shallow fast moving areas.

I'm not familiar with where you are fishing so who knows. I was just making a suggestion based on my experience.

This may sound like a plug/spam but ever since I got rid of the skirted buzzbait and started fishing the Buzz Hammer (or standard buzzbait with a small swimbait instead of the skirt) my strike ratio, hookups, and overall size of the fish I have been catching at that river has gone up. I believe the fish are much more attracted to something that looks like a little bait fish instead of a fluffy skirt thingy.