Any fans of the Rebel Crawfish out there? I've read lots of good things out there about them, picked up a few a couple years back. They have yet to become a confidence bait for me. Just looking for a little feedback.

Another lure in my arsenal that has only caught me, the fisherman, lol. I have one, and consistently bring it and use it at least once per trip. Good looking lure and action to my eyes, not the fishies thou, so far.

Caught several nice smallies on that lure in the Boulder River. Don't remember exactly what color, but it makes the trip with me every year. This is probably the best smallie I've caught with this particular lure. She was just a tad over 19" so I'm guessing she was in the 3.5-4 lb range.

The Rebel Craw is one of the most successful lures in my tackle box. And I have a lot of tackle! I've caught hundreds of smallies on it. In fact, last year I splurged and bought several more in different colors and sizes. The Rebel Craw is like crack for smallies. If you can get it in front of them, they can't resist it. I've used it on the Potomac River here in the Washington, DC area and also in the Boundary Waters/Quetico. It works best during the warmest months of July and August when the smallies are most active and willing to chase baits.

The key to getting strikes on the Rebel Craw is getting it near the bottom where crawfish live and where the fish are. And that's a challenge in the Boundary Waters where there is a lot of deep water and steep drop offs. The Rebel Craw works best in shallower, rocky rivers; below rapids running into a lake; and along rocky shorelines that are relatively shallow and sloping out to deeper water. If you are fishing for smallies in 2 to 10 feet of water, the Rebel Craw is appropriate to use. In the Boundary Waters, I use the Deep Rebel Craw with the bigger lip to get down. It runs about 8 feet deep on a long cast. As soon as it hits the water, give it about 10 fast cranks to get it down to the bottom, then just reel it in steady -- not too fast. If you have the "regular" Rebel Craw with the smaller lip, that one is not the best for most places in the Boundary Waters. The smaller one is better for shallow rivers where you want to drag a bait over flats that are only 2 to 3 feet deep, like the Upper Mississippi, etc.

I've also caught walleyes and northerns on the Rebel Craw. Last July, we set up camp in the afternoon on a wind-swept point on Ottertrack Lake. There was a sloping, rocky shoreline with waves crashing in from the wind. I tied on a Rebel Craw to see if I could pick up some afternoon smallies, and I ended up catching this stringer of walleyes. Just kept casting to the same spot. They were schooled up on the tip of the point, just off camp.


And since the Rebel Craw floats, it also works pretty well as a topwater bait. It has a great wiggle when you twitch it on the surface. Try casting it to a rocky shoreline at sundown in the Boundary Waters. The smallmouth will explode on it. It's a very versatile bait.

I Have used the Rebel Craw in rivers with great success for some reason I have never used it in the BWCA.
After reading Bromels post I think I'll have to change that.

Keep 2 around. Both a red cast. I THINK they're rebels. Good "go to" lure in Spring/Early Summer for me! Mostly bass, but caught one walleye and 2 pike on it a couple years ago.

Bromel, Nice report on the rebel. I can tell you are very passionate about that lure. It sounds like you should have a tackle box full of them and maybe I should too.

i wouldnt...he just likes to type alot. sorry, nothing beats a leech on a leadhead. unless its early...then its a minnow on a leadhead. :)

living in river country here in ne iowa, this bait has been a standby in current, due to its shallow retrieve.
i will be on the isabella river next year. i plan on having it along.
i replaced the hooks on my a few years back with larger ones.
seemed to help with hookups.
good smallie bait, i have caught a few walleyes on it as well.

"he just likes to type alot"

Nice one, Mr. Bearpaw. At least I don't need therapy for a BWCA.com addiction.

Let the love-fest begin!

kanoes,
Bromel has a bit of a point.

However, he forgot to mention that he is in the intensive Rapala/Rebel Crayfish.com addiction shock therapy program, that obviously is not working:)

Lurenet.com is a good site to shop for Rebel Craws. They have a big selection, and shipping is free for orders over $35. I have no affiliation with this site. If you are interested in ordering up some Rebel Craws, this is a good place. I prefer the D76 model for the BWCA.

Link to Rebel Craws

Thanks Bromel!

I never go up to BWCA without half a dozen of them.

How do you use those crawfish lures, without snagging rocks? They dive... and you have to run them along the bottom (or so I assume), right?

Been running them over sand only?

I've had no luck with them.

in general, you have to contact rocks (the bottom) for them to work as designed. yeah, you lose a few....its part of the game.

Do you think a fish can distinguish between a Rebel Craw and a minnow imitating crank bait?

Can a fish ID a rebel Craw as crayfish, or do they just strike reactively?

Don't give fish to much credit fot "smarts". If you hold your rod tip up high, so that the lure is near the surface, the Rebel has a wide, slow wiggle that does not look like food. If you put rod tip down, the lure hits bottom, careens off rocks and looks like a crawdad. My point: Depth plus presentation plus speed equals something to eat. Color is a non factor. I have won more money on pink or black. The lure(Rebel) is designed to work on bottom, bouncing off rocks, looking like a scared crawdad...work your lure with that in mind.

I picked up a Rebel crawdad 20 years ago and now I keep a half dozen with me for bass and northern. I even have a small version that's been great for crappies and spring bluegills. My favorite lure is still a leadhead but if I switch I almost always reach for my crawdad.

I rely on them for smallmouth in the rivers here in Illinois, the Fox river mainly. I have used them in the Ely area and have made a killing on smb and even pike. They are a main part of my armory when fishing for smb.

Just a note the smb react to different colors of crawfish lures as the season goes on. The crawfish change colors throughout the spring, summer, fall, so the smb react to the colors of the crawfish as the spring and summer progress.

I had one with me last year. I was trolling while paddling along the shoreline on Knife near Robbins Island when my pole almost doubled over and my canoe spun around. I thought I was hung up on a rock until my line started to peel off the reel and my line snapped.

I'll bring more than one this year.

They work for me out here. Got different sizes and colors.

Will be taking afew with me to BW this spring.

This lure is on my buy list and I will report in June how I did. I have heard a lot about this lure and have to try it for smallies.

First used a Rebel Wee Craw 20 years ago fishing for SMB on NE Iowa rivers. Since then have also caught crappie, walleyes, LMB, bluegill, white bass, hybrid bass, pike, carp, drum, and catfish on them. If the water is less than 10 foot deep and there is a rocky bottom this lure WILL catch fish!