Should I be using a trailer on my spinnerbaits? If so, what are some of your favorite trailers that seem to be most effective? 

If anything always a trailer hook

The only trailer I use is a hook.

My current PB went all gangster on this spinnerbait with a zonker strip (rabbit fur)

 

 

If you fish with plastic lizards, worms, or bush hogs, when the bodies get beat up, you can take the back ends of them and use them for trailers.

either a trailer hook or a b fish n tackle pulse-r

I've experimented with trailers and didn't notice one way or another that they really improved the bite for me.  To me a quality skirt is more important than a trailer.  Just my opinion.

 

I save my trailers, and recycled soft plastics, for jigs.

When I want to slow a bait down, either on the fall or when steady cranking, I opt for a Kalin's grub.  It has a nice wide tail for a lot of resistance and plenty of action to boot.

Never use trailers except on jigs.  I will add a trailer hook if I am getting hits, but no hookups.

I like either a single tail grub or a pork trailer for a bigger profile. A pork trailer on a slow rolled spinnerbait in early spring has caught some pigs for me.

In my opinion, while some prefer only to use trailer hooks, you also have to take into consideration lure size. If a traditional 1/2 oz spinnerbait is too large of a profile for a given day, then scaling down to the mini-versions in the 1/8-3/16oz range would make casting a bit more difficult for some loyal baitcasting folks. A trick the savvy smallmouth anglers use is to put a 3-4" curly tailed grub on to add a little more weight but still keep the bait profile relatively small. This sublte change aids in making longer casts and avoids spooking wary fish, especially in clear water.

Another factor to consider is the style of the spinnerbait. If you are using a Colorado style blade, then the trailer lure is not as necessary, since you're likely focusing on noise profile, and the action of the blade might cancel out any benefits of a trailer. If you are using a small profile willow blade, then the addition of a trailer might be the subtle action necessary to trigger a bite, since a willow blade has a lower noise profile than a Colorado or Indiana style blade.

Just my .02 worth.