What’s the best bait to use when fishing for sea bass?

Well the best bait would have to be a squid, cigar minnow or shrimp. Sea bass are pretty easy to catch. The clam strips work well also. The bass are hungry eaters and stay close to each other. Fish for them in the deeper waters and you will see enough fish caught to have a nice tasty dinner. You will have to experiment to see what is going to work that day. Everyone has his or her own preference for the type of bait to use. I would have to say it depends on the area you are fishing, the time of day and the time of year. My best suggestion would be to choose the area where you are going to fish and talk to the local bait shop. These people are going to know everything. They literally live and breath bass fishing. Most are experts in any type of fishing. They can give you fishing reports and tell you what areas are finding the most bass catches. The bait shops will also have the bait for you to buy or if you prefer to use shiners, you can probably catch them in the same area. The bass are going to be pooled wherever the food is and they will be easy to catch. If you want to be prepared take a little bit of each along so you can switch baits if one is not working for you. You can then switch to see what will work better. You might even consider a guide service.