One of the neophyte anglers that I frequently speak with asked me a very loaded question about trout fishing.

The question: If I had to choose among all of the numerous offerings an angler could throw at a trout, which would I select as the most effective?

When I mulled the question over for a while, the rookie fisherman thought that he had stumped me. What he didn't realize is that he had opened a whole new can of worms, so to speak.

I sipped my coffee for effect (and because it was pretty hot, too) and carefully phrased my answer: "It depends, son."

Well, he asked for it and now he had listen to my explanation, no matter how long I took.

First of all, I told him there was no one perfect bait or lure for all trout all the time, and then I went deeper into my wading pool of knowledge.

I guess if I was to pick one bait over all others, I would have to choose the plump garden worm threaded onto a small No. 10 bait hook floating freely with the current, maybe with just a pinch of split shot to help it to the bottom of the waterway.

Yet over the years, I have found that trout are finicky at best and can turn on or off to a bait or lure with no rhyme nor reason behind it. Therefore, my suggestion is to come to the streams and lakes ready to do battle.

That means having options and knowing when to use them. If everyone is doing well with a spinner and all you are doing is drowning worms, it could be a sign for a change.

I was fishing at Oil Creek several years back and wasn't doing very well. Old Jim Colosimo, a fishing legend in the northwestern counties, joined me and soon he was catching one trout after another.

We fished the same waters from the same spot and he was skunking me without effort.

Finally, Jim offered me a fluorescent green salmon egg. He went on to explain that he found the trout in these waters had a definite liking for the eggs.

Strangely enough, I have never found them to work as well in any other spot.

Another time I was fishing in the Hell's Hollow section of the Slippery Rock Creek and was having a rough time picking up trout.

I watched an older fellow having the time of his life using hellgrammites that he had plucked from underneath rocks on the stream bottom. Trout in the waters of many streams find this unique insect to be irresistible, even if they look like critters from a sci-fi movie.

What I was trying to explain to my young friend is that you must be prepared to match wits with the trout and be ready for some unusual tastes.

Some different, but successful, offerings include: salmon eggs in red, yellow and green; cheese eggs; Velveeta Cheese balls; minimarshmallows; fathead minnows-rosy reds-shiners; 1- to 2-inch crawfish; red worms; mealworms; waxworms; maggots; salted minnows and crawler tails.

Don't overlook the use of spinners, spoons and various flies that can be worked in open areas.

One of the best days of fishing that I ever had was when the fish were hitting well and I made a personal challenge to catch five fish with different offerings.

• The first fish went in the creel after falling for a silver spoon slowly retrieved.

• The second trout went for a fathead minnow

• The third was duped by a Berkley's Power Bait in chartreuse.

• The fourth fish took a bacon-and-egg combo, which is my name for a mealworm-waxworm setup on the same hook.

• The final fish took a while to bring to the net, but the rainbow trout went for a piece of nightcrawler tail that was cast and slowly retrieved in a tantalizing spinning motion.

Was it that I was just a great fisherman? Not quite. When they are hitting, you can put a variety of offerings out on the buffet line, and when they get fussy you may need to do a little work in figuring out what will make your day more successful.