Interesting Q.
Been teetering on the edge of trying bass lures myself, acquired a few but chucking 12quids worth of lure at snags doesn't feel too relaxing, a cheaper noisy popper might be the answer to the visibilty bit in Rhyl.
Bought a couple of 99p Fladen "Killis" a jelly sand eel curly tail pattern last week, if I was a bass I'd try and eat them, so I plan on trying them out over the clear water shore reefs on one of my trips to mid Wales (maybe with a drilled power ball as a control float?)