Rebel Crayfish Crankbait

[FishinCricket]

Rebel Teeny Craws in the shallow and deep diver version are absolutely one of the best options for most Ozark Rivers and creeks. Deadly on SMBs, LMBs, and KYs. Also good on goggle eyes and assorted brim. Here's a tip: Come to a hole on most any Ozark river or creek. Use the Teeny craw ... catch the active fish. After the fish have seen the Teeny Craw for awhile, follow it with 4" slider worm fished Texas rigged on a long shank cricket hook. Use the smallest worm weight you can find. I like the salt-n-pepper color scheme the best and have ordered them in bulk over the years. This is usually the ticket to catching a few more good ones before moving on. I use a light action rod for the slider worm and a ultra light for the Teeny craw. 4# test is usually sufficient. PC

Hehe, you said Cricket hook.... LOL (is it a big, skinny, gangly hook with gapped teeth? LOL)

Seriously though, solid advice...

[ozark trout fisher]

Hehe, you said Cricket hook.... LOL (is it a big, skinny, gangly hook with gapped teeth? LOL)

Seriously though, solid advice...

Sounds like I'm gonna stock up the next time I'm going to walmart. I'm going on a smallie/trout fishing trip at Little Piney pretty soon, and I was thinking of some new lures to bring along.

Generally my smallmouth arsenal consists of a Strike King Bitsy Minnow, Baby Bombers, Beetle Spins, various tube baits, Rapala countdowns Strike King Jigs, and of course nightcrawlers, but about half of those are illegal in the area of the Little Piney I want to fish. I know of a couple runs there that have both nice smallies and a few trout, so a smaller Rebel crawdad might be a good option in those places. Now that I think of it I think I vaguely remember having success for bucketmouths on one down at LOZ a few years back, but I've never tried them for smallies.

[creek wader]

I 2nd all of the above. My first smallie was caught on a Rebel Teeny Craw. I've caught largemouth, smallies, spotted bass, rainbows, goggle-eye, bluegill, sunfish, and crappie off of them. I like the diver in the streams, it plows the gravel and draws a lot of attention. Here's a pic from last year. It's not a smallie, but I caught many smallies on it, that day.

[Al Agnew]

I'm gonna be a bit contrary, here...

Yes, the Rebel Craw is a great crankbait for river smallies. BUT, part of the reason it's so effective is because it catches fishermen really well. It looks about as close to a real crawdad as you'll ever find in a crankbait, comes in nice colors, and is very well-known for catching lots of smallmouth. So lots of people buy them and use them.

But my point is that it is probably no more effective than a bunch of other crankbaits. While it LOOKS like a crawdad, neither it nor any other crankbait MOVES like a crawdad. Crawdads don't wobble much. They don't go along digging up the bottom, nor do they swim steadily and slowly in mid-water or close to the bottom. Crawdads either sit still mostly hidden, crawl very slowly across the bottom with lots of starting and stopping (without floating upwards when they stop!) or when they're scared they dart pretty quickly just off the bottom and then stop and settle to the bottom. Even seen ANY crankbait do ANY of that?

Bass are opportunistic feeders. If it moves and looks like they can swallow it, they'll take it if they're in the mood. They don't have much higher cognitive function, so they probably don't "think", "Hey, that thing looks like a crawdad so I'm gonna eat it." Nor do they think, "Hey, that thing looks like a crawdad but I never saw a crawdad moving like that, so I ain't gonna eat it." They see it, and if something about its profile, movement, or vibration trips a circuit in their little pea brain they take it.

So, while the Rebel Craw is as good a crankbait as any, I believe that any crankbait of the same general size that runs at similar depths will work just as well over a season of fishing. I've used Rebel Craws in the past, and haven't found them to be any better (nor, it must be said, any worse) than my current favorite crankbaits that run at the same depths.

Having said that...I love crankbaits in the rivers, especially the larger, less clear rivers like the Meramec and Gasconade. I use mostly my homemade crankbait, which runs shallow, in heavy cover, and cranks that run 6-8 feet deep in deeper water with less wood cover. The bodies of most of my crankbaits, not including the bill, are almost always 2 to 2.5 inches long. Long ago when I was a teenager I spent hundreds of days fishing with live crawdads, and found that smallies preferred crawdads in that size range. So I've used it as a general guide in choosing crankbaits, not because I think I'm perfectly imitating crayfish with them, but because I suspect that is the optimum size of thick-bodied prey that trips that circuit in the smallie brain that I mentioned before.

[FishinCricket]

I am actually with you to a degree Al. Thats why I kinda stressed in my post that presentation is what pull up the quality stream fish.. You are right in that aspect for sure, presentation is key when they aren't on, but when they are hitting cranks they are hitting most of them (crawdad or otherwise).. And spinners and swimming minnows and purple worms too..

[RSBreth]

I'm also on the "it's O.K. but other cranks work better, at times" tip here. I have never done as well with a "craw crank" as I have with a Honey "B", DT4, or even the newer Bomber 4A. Some other medium or shallow runners that work good are Strike King series 3, Bandit 200, and all of the Norman models like the Deep Tiny N, Middle N, and even their "Crappie Crank".

I wrote a small article about crankbaits for Smallmouth last year and received several "hate mails" about my not really liking the Rebel Craw. Ouch.

Hey, use what you want.

[creek wader]

True, the wee craw doesn't act like a crawfish. True, other crankbaits work for smallies. True, I don't use other cranks as much as I do the wee craw. But, true, the wee craw works quite well. I personally like the results. So, ozark trout fisher , try it and see for yourself. I personally like experimenting with other baits and tactics.

I prefer soft plastics, while other anglers prefer spinnerbaits or crankbaits. So, go with what works for you. But, I keep a few of the Rebel Wee Craws, in my tackle box. It's my second choice, behind soft plastics. I've used them and Rapala floating minnows, where I couldn't use soft plastics and have done well. Good luck. ...wader

[ozark trout fisher]

True, the wee craw doesn't act like a crawfish. True, other crankbaits work for smallies. True, I don't use other cranks as much as I do the wee craw. But, true, the wee craw works quite well. I personally like the results. So, ozark trout fisher , try it and see for yourself. I personally like experimenting with other baits and tactics.

I prefer soft plastics, while other anglers prefer spinnerbaits or crankbaits. So, go with what works for you. But, I keep a few of the Rebel Wee Craws, in my tackle box. It's my second choice, behind soft plastics. I've used them and Rapala floating minnows, where I couldn't use soft plastics and have done well. Good luck. ...wader

I'll try it for sure. Thanks for the tips everyone.

[fishinSWMO]

I think most people that really have great success with the rebel craw are using the smallest sized one. It really works well, but I think it is mostly because it is that size. It would be what I would call a micro crankbait. Almost any crankbait that size will do the same thing, but the selection is kinda slim and that makes it so popular. It also is a small fish magnet. When you move up into the larger rebel craws and compare them to other similar sized crankbaits, they dont produce as well for me.

[fishinwrench]

Lazy Ike, or Flatfish style crankbaits are really good river/stream search-baits, and I seldom hear of anyone using them anymore.

The Rebel craw is similar in design but doesn't bounce off of cover near as well. Just about the only way to get an Original Ike hung-up is to cast it directly into a bush or tree.

There's a certain Mark Twain tributary that is home to a unique population of Smallmouth..... and the locals (in the know) always keep one rod rigged with a "bullfrog" Original Ike.