Yup... standard 2-4kg weighted rod anywhere up to 7ft (shorter for tight tangled banks), 1500-2500 sized reel with 4-6lb mono or flurocarbon (lasts longer and more abrasion resistant, berkely do a good affordable one that i use as lead for my braid). If you go the braided option, go about 10-12lb: it is a bit stiffer so less tangles and not as affected by the wind while still being finer than 4lb mono and casts a mile with bugger all weight.
I've got 4 rigs like this that i use for all manner of fishing; slightly different tapers and lengths. Caught a 74cm murray cod on a rig like this, the rod is a complex taper but still a 2-4kg. Just fight the fish from the butt, not the tip and use 'soft hands'.
KWhorenet, i like your drift and twitch approach. I'm the worlds worst lure fisherman but it sounds very effective. In coarse-fishing terms, this sounds like 'long trotting'.
If you really want to get into bait fishing for trout, look into 'coarse-fishing', it has same very effective techniques that can be applied with out the specialist gear. I've spent an hour stalking a fish on the Goulburn Rv at mid flow, trying to get a good cast to it with my fly, while watching a coarse fisher on the far bank pull in 3 fish that looked to be about 3lb or so.
Coarse fishing would be very effective in rivers like the lower Mersey and the Leven, broad water, lowland streams. Spent years bait drifting tiny mountain streams as well, before i got into fly casting. Only got into soft plastics a few years ago, to speed up the search and cover more water when exploring unfamiliar waters; search with the plastics until i find a rising or cruising trout and then rig up the fly rod, 'cause i just love watching a fish come up and suck down my fly.
Anyway, to me it's about the fishing (not the fish in the bag) and i love trying to fool a fish that i can see more than sitting and waiting for the fish to bite.
By the way... i was stuck in Launi today or i would have been out there! Bar was at 1027+, slight over cast, little wind, plenty of insects..... got home and saw a nice fish rising right near my front gate....