Best Perch/Panfish lure and bait?

My favorite to use is a teardrop and a small minnow. I have had pretty good success with small minnows, wax worms and perch eyes.(once you've caught one)

I think it pretty much boils down to what lake your fishing. Most of the lakes I fish, I use a search lure, usually a jiggin' rap with a section of mono tied to where the treble is, and either a small hook, or teardrop/leadhead jig with a waxworm, maggot, or minnow head. But at places like Larimore Dam, or other places that have an overabundance of panfish, I will just use small teardrops, the smallest size jiggin' rap, or a very small jigging spoon since you know that your chances of hooking into a different species are slim.

Best over-all search lure is a small silver kastmaster, with about 2 incher dropper line for the hook tipped with a minnow head or a perch eye. Jigged agressively, it has been my lure of choice for many years, especially when the fish are hitting with any sort of aggression at all. For Walleye, I like to use the same lure. When jigging for walleye, I like to pound the lure on the bottom several times to stir up a little mud. If there are active walleye in the area, stirring up the bottom a bit makes them hit it very aggressively. When the bite is really lite, I go with the smallest jig possible or even an almost ridiculously small plain hook rigged with a single wax worm fished stationary for the most part with just a tiny wiggle on the rod tip every once in a while. This is also when a Vexilar really makes the difference.

small blue/chrome hali's, #8 red/chartreuse fatboy, #4Chubby darter w/ hali dropper

A rapala jigging rap or jigging shad with a waxworm, maggot, minnow, or minnow head.

I would have to agree with Whitetail master. I will almost always start with a Hali and a minnow head. They work well for pretty much anything that swims but exceptionally well for perch! You can find them at Sportsmans warehouse in Fargo for a buck and a half less than anywhere else I've seen.