Rebel Crawfish Perforation And The Elusive Square Bill

[ArdentAngler]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone has an idea why the Rebel Crawfish has a perforation between its pincers? There must be a pragmatic reason that's there other than aesthetics, right?

 

To my amazement many who make there own crays also add this on there lures. My thought is that it just add to the look as the action does not seem like it would be affected. At first I played with the idea that water is forced through causing the lure to have a relative stability, unlikely but maybe?

 

Also does any one know if Rebel made a square bill for the crawfish? I seen one on the bay a while back and wondered if it was a custom job. Although this was the older model with the screw eye in the body, not the bib. So it looked pretty authentic to me.

 

If it does exist can you share with me some information such as dimentions and action? I'm keen on building my own square bill and a little bit of information goes a long way.

 

 

Thanks

[BobP]

Every little thing different you do to a crankbait effects its performance, but I think the perforation is basically to make the bait look more realistic.  I've seen several crawdad pattern crankbaits with square bills sold by big companies.  One that comes to mind is the Koppers Live Target -  http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Koppers_Live_Target_Crawfish_Squarebill_Crankbait/descpage-KPCRSQC.html

[ArdentAngler]

I have yet to try Koppers, been wanting to. The older models with the mat finish were more appealing to me than the new models. Unfortunately they run a little to large for trout, which is all I fish for by default. There doesn't seem to be much information online on the Rebel Craws. I was hoping someone would do a chronology of the lures with some history, alas nothing but advertisements to buy more. Someone has to know something about the square lip?

[atrophius]

I havent posted in a while, but I am getting back into building. i used to order a lot from jans netcraft. they have square bills that you can run a few trials with maybe. Thats if you are going to try and make some.

 

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/crankbait-bills-lure-lips/

 

They have the circuit board ones(which are really thin) and clear plastic(which are standard thickness).

[fishon-son]

that koppers bait don't do it for me...nothing like a craw would look like..i think if ur fishing this for bass they don't see it as a craw....i9t more of a sell for people....just a gimmick

[ArdentAngler]

The Koppers Craw are neat, very realistic in my opinion at least the new ones with the clear center are. Yeah they didn't do much for me at first either, I like the old mat finished ones if any.

 

I wish that I had placed a bid on that square lip Rebel! Thought for sure that someone on here owned one or seen it? My guess is that it was a 1980's model, seeing as the square lips weren't popular and accepted before then.

 

I was told on here to be cautious about the jannsnetcraft lips, something about breaking and poor tolerances??? Probably going to make mine from Lexan sheet, thank you for the input guys!

[crankbaits]

The netcraft circuit board bills are fine.I've used them for years without a problem.

If you saw the rebel square bill craws on ebay they might have been mine.

I cut off the factory bill and put a square circuit board bill on them.

It's easy to do ,find some old lures and give it a try.

[SLT785]

Rapalas Pro Trout recommendations: http://www.rapala.com/Rapala/Gifts/ProPicks/Trout/rapala-gifts-propicks-trout,default,sc.html

[Anglinarcher]

ArdentAngler, don't discount the "larger" crayfish patterns for trout.  You don't show where you are from, or if you mean rainbow trout, brown trout, or sea trout, but .......

 

I use some rather large crayfish patterns for brown trout that often run from 16 inches to over 30 inches in length.  I catch rainbows in the 18 inch to 26 inch in length range.  If you have trout in your water that size, you will probably find that you could/should have been using the larger crayfish patterns.

 

My eyes were opened some years ago and my trout fishing looks more like bass fishing now.  LOL

[mark poulson]

I stuck a 3lb+ rainbow trout on a fat Ika while fishing for bass.  It actually hit my bait twice before I got a hook into it.

So I know they eat med. size craws.

[ArdentAngler]

The trout around me are about the same size, heck the last big one I lost was over 8lb! That was on a Rebel craw, had I not used those smart link lure savers he would have been on the grill, but that's a story for another time.

 

The larger Rebels swim too deep for my stretch of water, thus a shallower model is more pragmatic. I had another look at the square billed Rebel and I'm positive its authentic. At the time it popped up I asked the ebayer questions but he never got back with me.

 

Ok so would a square lip of the exact length work for one of these? Say I base it one the typical Wee size craw, then I match the length of the bib to that on the round bill.

 

Would this work? Always thought the square lips were a bit shorter, so I don't want to push the length too much.