Fishing is a sport activity that requires patience and a good knowledge of the best bait to use for a particular species of fish. There's a broad range of living and non-living items being used as fishing bait. When selecting a bait, your best bet is the organism that the fish you're hunting likely eats in the water, but you can also experiment with things.  

Live Bait

Live baits are the best option for picky eaters such as walleyes, bream, crappie, stripers, and flathead catfish. There’s an endless list of vertebrates and invertebrates to use. Minnows, herring, perch, bluegill, and hellgrammite are some of the major baits used. Many fishes will also hit non-fish live baits such as leeches, wax worms, meal worms, frogs, grasshoppers, insect larvae, and frogs. You can get bait and tackle stores offer live baits for fishing. If your state allows it, you can save some dollars by collecting your own live bait.

Prepared Bait 

Some fishermen prefer using baits that are not alive as they are more convenient to bring along. Between live baits and artificial baits, there’s a wide array of baits you can use. Fish and tackle stores carry many kinds of commercial baits, but you can prepare your own concoctions. Some prepared baits are once live organisms, such as frozen earthworms. Others are things fishes don't see in their natural world, such as salmon eggs, freeze-dried chicken meat, hotdogs, cheese balls, and pieces of baked potato.

Powerbait 

Powerbait is a synthetic bait that works best with farmed fishes, but it is also an effective lure for fishes in natural environments. Powerbaits come in a variety of colors. They are scented to make them seem more like the real thing. 

Artificial Bait 

In its simplest definition, artificial baits are man-made baits. Plastic worms, jigs, insects, spinners, streamers, and spoons are of this kind.

When you go to a fishing store, you will find hundreds of options. It is your job to know beforehand what bait matches a particular hatch best. Some baits are specific to certain fishes, while some are enjoyed by many kinds of fish. Look up a book on fishing in your library, or ask a seasoned angler what is the best bait to capture a specific fish.

To increase your chances of baiting fish, also consider the season or time of the year you're fishing in as well as the environment where the fish lives in (stream, pond, ocean, river, etc). Some live baits will work on fresh waterfish only, while some baits are irresistible to saltwater fish.  

Sources:

http://www.hobbyandlifestyle.com/fishing-bait.html