I'm old. I've been fishing for five decades. I started with bait and a bobber and switched to fly fishing in my twenties after I got tired of finding petrified worms in my vest.
After all those years of considering both sides of this classic argument, I believe bait fishing, when done properly, generally crushes fly fishing outside of special circumstances. (i.e. a heavy hatch).
If you bring the care, artistry and technical applications typically applied to fly fishing aficionados into bait fishing, fly anglers will get beaten every time.
My brother, when he fished, was an artist with a strung minnow and a worm. In early-season, with heavy waters, he would string a minnow on his line with a double hook, pinch splitshot along the line like rosary beads, and churn the rig along the bottom. I swear he'd either hook or turn over every trout in the stream. Thirty-fish days were common. Then, later when the water levels dropped, he'd switch to an ultra-light outfit with two-to-four pound test line, no weight except for the garden worm and make a killing working tight cover and undercuts. As a newbie fly angler, I couldn't keep up. It wasn't even close.
I think the added dimensions of smell and taste are an advantage that's hard to beat. Unless there's a heavy hatch or the fish are keyed in to visual stimuli. My opinion anyway.
