This combination has worked for me during the hardest of times while walleye fishing. It has saved many days on the water from becoming total failures. The beautiful part of this rig is how it can be fished. You can anchor with them, troll them, and cast them. They also work extremely well in a drift situation.
All baits go well on a split shot rig.
My favorite bait is a night crawler. I will thread the worm up the shaft and let the hook come out near the end of the worm. This will allow the worm to move freely and when a fish decides to pick up the worm, the hook will be in its mouth. This should eliminate short bites that are common with night crawlers. Another method I discovered last summer is using plastic scented power worms on these same hooks.