Confidence is a big deal and if aniseed does it for you then go for it.
The thing is that it is difficult to do the control experiment. If you are catching on maggot within 30 seconds of casting in and repeatedly have to wait 10 minutes with a 4 mm dynamite baits red krill expander then that tells you something. Or if the size of fish is radically different. The problem is those days are few and far between. If you get 2 fish quickly then try a different bait once for nothing then switch back, catch one more then nothing else - is that a valid test, I think not?
If most people fished white maggot then you will still catch on pellet but, everything else being equal, white maggot will demonstrate better results because more people fish them. If Jamie Hughes wins 2 matches on 5.2 mm spotted fin special reserve pickled onion flavoured pellets, does that mean they are better. No, it just means they did no harm to his catch rate because he would likely have won anyway on a standard pellet. If i was first to use them and started winning everything then that is a different story.
In the past, have caught on bare hook, plummet, empty band, pineapple jam sandwich, blackcurrant jam sandwich, defrosted frozen mixed veg (corn, peas, carrot, peppers, green beans) and flower petal. I dare say others have had much more esoteric success. I still tend to just use ordinary coppens or skrettings pellets with a couple of packs of flavoured hookers however these rarely get used unless I'm up against it because you never know....
