Theres soo many variables in fishing. Sometimes real bait works better than plastic, sometimes its the other way around. Depends what you're targeting too. Ive been fishing my entire life (blessed to live in the pnw with so much surrounding water) and til this day im still learning each and every time i go out.
For saltwater, a hi lo rig with shrimp or herring works best. Let it sink to the bottom, reel up the slack, and wait. Best thing about salt is that youll never know what you'll catch. Ive caught rockfish, surf perch, sharks, ratfish, starfish, and hell even crab using a hi lo rig.
For freshwater, its a bit more complicated as certain fish have certain temperaments. You can use the same hi lo rig posted above with some worms and you'll almost always catch panfish. Bass is something im not gonna get into with there being soo much variables, im still learning this one myself but i will say a ned rig as
iDon’tRead
mentioned is a killer setup.
Gotta make sure the plastic you're using is buoyant so it stays erect while on the bottom.