are mepps and thomas buoyants overrated for trout?

[spaceman]

i dont fish for trout.
til today.
i have some smaller mepps and thomas buoyants,powerbait, and various small lures.
what is my best bet?

 

[spaceman]

the water is cold.
it's snowing.
please no flyfishing suggestions.

 

[AMCRambler]

I'm a big fan of Mepps Aglia spinners or rooster tails. Usually when the water is cold they say you gotta use bait or they wont bite though. Small night crawlers or corn. Rubbers might work. The trout they stock around here are always real skittish. I don't know if that's just because they are farm raised or what, but where a bass will just sit there hovering in the water when you walk up to a creek or pond, the trout take off at fullspeed. I'm probably the worst one to be giving you advice because I haven't caught a trout in the last 5 times I've been trout fishing!

 

[DeadByDawn]

What lb. test line are you using? What are the water conditions where you are fishing? (depth, lake or stream, clarity)? What size fish are present?
Trout have excellent eyesight. Flyfishing is really the best way to catch them.

If you don't have access to flyfishing equipment you can still make due. I always use the lightest line that will hold the biggest fish I expect to catch. I've had success with powerbait in stained slow moving water & deeper water. The mepps work better in in faster moving streams or clearer streams.

Also don't discount using flys on normal fishing equipment. You can buy special bobbers that you can tie tippet onto and put a wet fly on there.