A few years ago, I read a comment by (I believe it was Bryan Niska) stating that bait is for little fat kids because it's easy. Another poster said fishing bait is alike to feeding the fish - no challenge in hiding a sharp hook in a blob of something they naturally ingest.
Fishing artificials such as flies, lures, yarn and jigs, OTOH, adds the challenge of fooling the fish into thinking it is a food source when, in fact, it's not.
Feeding the fish vs. Fooling the fish was the argument that finally swayed me in favour of the artificials (not to mention the stink, the mess and the stains).
It was then that I stopped cooking boillies for carp, curing roe and digging out worms.
My catch ratio dropped considerably in the first two or three years, but as I became more proficient with artificials, the catch ratio went up again.
Does that make me a better fisherman than the roe chucker? No, but I like to think I evolved as an angler and made my outings far more challenging and interesting.
If nothing works, I'll light up a cigar and just enjoy being there, regardless of whether I'm catching or not.