Mike,
This fall i experimented with some small barrel sinkers and painted them red with powder coating. I then took a #2 Owner bait hook and tied a 24-30" leader with an egg loop. Then all you have to do is slide a small bead down your leader to the hook and then your painted sinker.

Ive fish eggs and shrimp using the "lead corkie" setup for silvers with good success, so i imagine they will work well for Winters. The only problem i had was the sinker sliding up the leader when i casted. That can probably be taken care of with a small piece of yarn tied above or something similar.
tight lines...
_________________________
"I have a fair idea of what to expect from the river, and usually, because I fish it that way, the river gives me approximately what I expect of it. But sooner or later something always comes up to change the set of my ways..."
- Roderick Haig-Brown