I do both. Depends where you goin and whats in the water around. From the beach I like to put on a good weight 3-4 foot leader and some cut bait or live, chuck it out as far as you can. Let it sit for a bit reel it in a bit here and there. If your on a pier this works good too also does a bobber. Lures work just as well depending on the location. Start off with bait and keep a few topwaters in your box. I like to throw them early in the morning for stripers! Like a giant zara spook or similar type lure works wonders.

Try some top water lures while fishing salt water. A super spook or super spook jr get some explosive strikes from fresh and salt water fhis. Throwing and retrieving spoons jigs at different speeds will also get you some good fish. Live bait and cut biat fished under a cork or on bottom will catch fish, I'm just way too impatient to bait fish.

Well, I wouldn't use a bobber but just slip on a 2 or 3 ounce wieght, a swivel, and a hook and makeral, or squid work fine. Also, plugs would work good, too. I expecialy like pencil poppers or red/white wild eyes for striped bass.

Either one works, but FRESH dead bait is a killer also. It has to be fresh or all you'll catch is sail cats. There are so many combos for so many different fish, that it can't be answered in a short column. Just keep it live or fresh bait and you'll catch something, In time you'll learn which bait catches which fish the most. I realize that it's not a very definative answer, but salt water fishing covers ALOT of ground...species, depth,tide, daylight,etc. Once again, I can't impress the importance of FRESH bait enough. It does'nt have to be live, but it does have to be fresh. In a nutshell, look at it, smell it...would YOU eat it? Does it smell nasty? Is it purple or some other strange color? If so, leave it alone. Remember that most salt water bait is also eaten by humans, so determining if it's fresh is like going to the supermarket..it's a no-brainer really.
Good luck!

Try live shrimp with a popping cork, or a DOA shrimp.