I have a funny story related to live bait.

My son has been fishing with me since before he could walk. Most guys
fishing on the lake we live on use plastics and when I see someone with
a minnow bucket, I tell my son "Look at these f---ing poachers!". Last
month, my kid was out on the dock with a few of his friends and they
were fishing with minnows that someone has left on the dock. I figured,
let the kids have some fun and started to fish myself using my trusted
Yamamoto rig.
Two hours later, I had no fish and the kids were just nailing them off
the dock. I finally broke down and asked them for one minnow. Within 2
minutes, I had a 5lb "monster" that came out from under the dock and
just nailed the minnow as soon as it hit the water.
I must admit, it was fun catching the bass so quickly, but on the other
hand there is zero skill envolved, so I'm still sticking to plastics
for now. My son can't stop making fun of me after watching me finally
"break down".