Shiners. For lure I like Rappala rattlers or any bright colored spinner bait.
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Honestly the best bait ever was hooking tiny bluegill and using them as bait
Note that bluegill are not legal for bait in mAss, but pumpkinseed are GTG:
(8) Taking, Sale, Importation, and Use of Baitfish.
(a) Definitions:
Baitfish means only live or dead fish of the following species. A person shall not use as bait any fish, alive or dead, including parts thereof, except the baitfish listed in 321 CMR 4.01(8)(a)1 through 10.
1. White sucker (Catostomus commersoni)
2. Banded killifish (Fundulus diaphanus)
3. Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)
4. Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus)
5. Golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)
6. Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), only as provided in 321 CMR 4.01, Table 1.
7. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
8. Fallfish (Semotilus corporalis)
9. Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)
10. Herring (Clupea spp.) may be used as bait in the Connecticut River, Merrimack River, and coastal rivers and streams, only as provided in 321 CMR 4.01: Table 1 and 322 CMR, but may not be possessed or used as bait in other rivers and streams, or in lakes, ponds, or reservoirs.
Commercial Baitfish means only live or dead fish of the following species lawfully imported into the Commonwealth, or propagated within the Commonwealth for purposes of sale as baitfish:
1. White sucker (Catostomus commersoni)
2. Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)
3. Golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)
4. Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)
Baitfish taken from any inland waters of the Commonwealth shall not be considered commercial baitfish, and shall not be sold or offered for sale.
LINK:
This is an unofficial version of Commonwealth regulations and is posted here for the convenience of the public. It is not an official statement of the regulations.
www.mass.gov