Choosing bait: start with the target, then inspect what comes back
Good bait can still fail if it twists around the hook or never reaches the intended depth. Before asking which bait is best, decide what you are targeting and where the presentation needs to work.
Take two options you can store and prepare properly. A manageable comparison teaches more than a bag of unfamiliar alternatives.
Presentation comes first
For natural bait, consider portion size and how well it survives the cast. A small shrimp portion and a strip of squid make a useful comparison when appropriate to the target. Neither is a universal answer. For lures, check weight, working depth and retrieve style against your rod and location.
Read the returned bait
Untouched bait does not prove the fish dislike it. Check where it travelled and whether it reached the intended depth. Bait wrapped around the leader points toward rig or casting problems. Missing bait can mean small animals, poor attachment or loss during the cast. Try a controlled short cast before drawing conclusions.
Change one variable
Keep the rig and casting area similar while comparing two baits. Changing bait, distance and sinker together hides the cause of any improvement. There is no universal waiting interval: inspect when you suspect damage or tangles without retrieving so often that the bait barely fishes.
Choose what you can store well
Live bait loses its advantage when exhausted or poorly attached. It needs suitable care, and moving live organisms between areas can raise local restrictions. Properly stored non-live bait is often a simpler starting point. Keep a small working portion out and the rest appropriately chilled.
A useful small experiment
Compare matched shrimp and squid portions. If shrimp comes back damaged while squid remains intact, you have learned about durability or bait picking, not yet which catches more fish. Record the kind of response as well as the catch total. Repeated bites without hookups call for a different diagnosis from bait that receives no attention.