I prefer a real worm. First of all, they are cheaper than plastic ones. Even still cheaper if I pick them myself. I've never had good luck with artificial baits.....especially the plastic ones. When using a flutter spoon or spinner, I get better results with no bait.
The best bait in the whole world is a live Northern Red Belly Dace but where I live, we are not allowed to use minnows. When I lived in Ontario, it only took 10 or 15 minutes to catch a dozen Northern Red Belly Dace with a minnow trap. They were called "mud minnows" by the locals but that name was a poor choice for such a beautiful hardy minnow that didn't seem to have scales.
I remember just hooking them under the skin just behind the dorsal fin with a size 8 high quality hook and casting them out on 4 lb mono. Nothing else was on the line. I often had to flick my forefinger on their heads to make them dizzy and trout would race up from deep water to hit them as they fluttered around near or on the surface. Sometimes I could see in the crystal clear water over a dozen big brookies racing each other from the depths to seize the minnow and then run off with it.
For the first few years after arriving to the part of Quebec where I live now, we were allowed to use live red bellied dace for fishing in Lac St-Jean for ouananiche (landlocked salmon). My technique of a dizzy minnow on light line was fantastic.