Is trout bigger than crappie? How heavy would you recommend the sinkers to be? What size does the hooks have to be? How heavy does the line have to be?

There are several different species of trout. Most of them are bigger than Crappie, many of them much bigger. If you are planning to use weights I am going to assume you want to angle for trout using live or prepared baits. The most commonly sought after trout is the Rainbow Trout. These fish are commonly caught across the United States in the twelve to twenty inch range, but can be much bigger. Commonly used baits include minnows, salmon eggs, cheese, whole kernel corn and a variety of different prepared “power baits”, a term coined by Berkeley for their product that accomplishes this task. The hook size used is really irrelevant. You should use a small enough hook so that it is completely covered by the bait. Generally when a trout take a prepared bait of this sort it will swallow the bait. This is why the hook size is not relevant; keep it as small as possible. Brown trout are a larger species of trout commonly fished for across America. This is a very beautiful species with a variety of brown and orange markings across its body. It is also by far the most aggressive member of the trout family, sometimes reaching over twenty pounds. You can use many of the above baits but to catch really large Brown Trout using a lively small fish works wonders. Trout do not have large throats and cannot eat fish as large as other species anglers commonly fish for. A four inch fish is more than enough bait to entice a trophy Brown Trout.