Stink bait, Frozen bait, fresh cut bait or live bait?

We use a little of everything but the best we have found are

Fresh or frozen cut shad. Cut the head off, the tail off and fish with the head and middle.

COOKED frozen shrimp. It's tougher than raw and they are usually all the same size, and your not winding up with a bunch of heads and trash like you can in the TV shrimp.

Danny Kings catfish bait. It's a dough bait but it really holds on a treble hook nice and they will attack it hard.

Perch. Enough said.

We also use the hell out of chum. Mix one package of yeast, a beer, and about 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket full of 1/2 chicken scratch and 1/2 milo or cracked corn (not whole!!). Enough water for everything to cover about an inch. Then let it soak. Don't put a lid or anything, or it will swell and pop it off. It's ready when there is black and green slime all over it.