What would be a good bait?

It sounds to me that your son is still very young and can not handle baits by himself yet. If this is the case, lures won't be a good choice.

Luckily, there are many other choices on baits. Many fish will eat plain white bread. Just take a small piece of bread and gently roll it into a ball; loose bread will dissolve in water too quickly and hard kneaded bread balls won't be as effective. Many fish will eat cooked corn kernels or canned corn. You can use 1 or 2 kernels if the hook used was smal or you could cover the whole hook with corn. Please remember not to dump corn kernels into the water when you leave because they could kill fish that are not big enough to digest and pass corn kernels. You can also use raw shrimp as bait. You don't need to use a whole shrimp at a time unless you only want bigger fish. All three baits mentioned above will work in both fresh and saltwater.

There are also artificial, biodegradable cut baits available. Berkley and Foodsource both make them. They will specify if the bait was intended for saltwater or freshwater use on the package. Those artificial baits will cost you about $5 to $6 per package. You can reuse Foodsource baits but not Berkley baits. You must keep those baits sealed in package when not in use or they will eventually turn into bait jerky. You can soak water back into Foodsource products and continue to use them; you can't do that with Berkley products. Foodsource artificial baits tend to be more effective and they are more user friendly.

If you just want him to catch a fish just use the worms put some latex gloves on or something if you want him to catch a big fish than a crank bait or buzz bait

try some "powerbait" available at most all bait and tackle shops,artificial bait that works great and comes in a variety of forms and shapes for all different kinds of fish.Comes in preshaped pieces or you can form your own from the puttylike stuff in the jar.They make worms out of it,grubs,maggots,and minnows,realistic looking and really work and catches fish.Every color and design he would like is available,and somewhat cleaner than natural,never dies on you,but can be smelly but that's what works.

Taking your son fishing? Shoot.. Have him dig the worms. Bet ya a dollar he will bait the hook. Put anything you want on the hook.. Think like a fish. Invent something.. GL

Berkley's Power Bait (as others mentioned) is a' purrrty universal bait and easy ta' use. Comes in a' varity of colors and for different species of fish. Stuff, like I said is simple ta' use ie., take a small pinch out of jar, put it in the palms of your hands and with a' circular motion (addin' a' slight bit of pressure) form it inta' a ball then just push your hook into it makin' sure the hook itself and the eye of it (hook) is concealed . Power bait floats so you'll want ta' put some split shot bout' 18 inches above the hook and that be basically it. Hope it helps ya' out some;)... < ' ( (( > <

Power Bait (this particular one be for Trout):

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/produc...

This be PB but in a pre-formed shape that you don't have ta' form/mold:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/produc...

PB in different forms ;):

http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/store/Berkley_Po...

crickets or salmon eggs for trout it depends what you are fishing for, you can just use spinner baits or something too

plastic worms, grubs, jigs. get sizes for bass and crappie.6"worms, 1-11/2" grubs on small jig heads.

try a gulp alive minnow and reel slowly