I’ve used scents for years. They do help the fish keep hold of the lure for a bit longer than without. I’ve done research where I’d use the sent with same lure/line as the other guy in the boat without the sent. Over many outings the fish would pick up the non-scented bait and drop it after a bit. The scented bait almost always was held for 1.5x – 2x longer and many times the fish would swim up to 20 feet with it.
We even switched non-scented/scented roles. I sure didn’t enjoy that part of the testing.
Anise was a staple back when I was younger. I haven’t found it easily for a long time so now I just stick to generic powerbait goo.