what do you think is the best bait for muskies in mid summer. spiners,cranks,stick bait, frogs. WHAT SHOULD I USE?

It depends on the time of day ?? early morning late evening..I'd try bucktails, topwater ... around shallow weed beds and structure.... mid day... deep water weed edges , rock humps ...using deep cranks , spinner baits, jigs with plastic trailers

i like frogs and chubs around the weed lines myself

What a good bait for channel ccat this time of the year?

baits are nothing but  tools .
 top waters=  prop baits  wobbler's   walk the dog
bucktails = inline spinners
jerkbaits  = gliders and divers
spinner baits  referring to safety pin style
crank baits
spoons
jigs and soft plastics.
lures from each category  has it purpose to be in your tackle box 

some search lures may be  smaller buck tails, prop baits, crank baits , spinner baits.     stuff you can fish fast cover a lot of ground with .

lures for fishing  weeds may  be  divers like a suik  , spinner baits , weedless spoons, jigs

lures for fishing rock reefs may be gliders like a reef hog , crank baits ,  jigs and soft plastics


http://www.learninghowtofish.com/  scroll down left side tell you come to musky fishing tips and articles.