I too have done well with buzz bombs in the salt. I haven't used them much in fresh though. But you want to know why they get a bad rap?? Any day the pinks are running on the Snohomish, take a look up and down river and you'll see plenty of people reeling in fish backwards. These "fishermen" don't jig the rod up- they yank hard to the side- obviously trying to hit anything swimming by.