Big Fella,
There is no rhyme nor reason to this. Last January, sleet coming down, temp nudging above zero. Fished a lake with acouple of mates. Out went my db's, excellent baits in good positions, surely this weather is made for deadbaits!
One of my mates, getting cold and bored after a few hours with no action, gets out the lure rod to 'warm up' (I hadn't even taken mine!). To cut a long story short, by the time we packed up late afternoon, lures 14 fish to just over 15, Deadbaits (6 rods between us) 2 and not very big either. He was fishing a jelly lure in fairly shallow water at reasonable speed as well. If the fish are active, lures are very effective at any time. Just go for it.
Stu