I know this isn't new, I got the idea from seeing a brand called Joe's Fly's.  I like what he did w/ the spinner flys, but the weights were too light for me.

So I made my own, since I have an abundant supply of in-line spinners & flys.

Those are on the right w/ the one in the middle I added on a 3" Lip Ripperz trout worm.  The 2 on the left are 1/8 oz Chatterbaits that I put on 3" minnows, the brown colored one is from Basstrix & the other one is from Berkley Power Series.

The 1/8 oz Chatterbaits & the minnows get smashed all the time.  I had some luck w/ the spinner flys, I gotta try them on the river.

I wonder if anyone makes a long shank treble so you can tie your own trailers?

the trebel doesnt even have to be long shank to tie a trailer! do you mean to dress it like on a x-rap or do you mean actually tie the fly right on the trebel?

My brother has had good luck taking the skirt off a chatterbait and using a Sizmic toad instead - it looks pretty cool in the water.

And Joe's Flies - those are great baits for trout.  I use them when I occasionally go trout fishing, and yes, they are difficult to cast more than 10 feet, but I can cast them 30 or 40 feet with an ultralight spinning setup with 6 lb braid (and a 4 lb flouro leader).  No reason why they couldn't work for smallies or dink LMB.

My brother has had good luck taking the skirt off a chatterbait and using a Sizmic toad instead - it looks pretty cool in the water.

i think i will try that.....cool idea.