Rebel

[whitwolf]

There's a rebel hump back crank?? I think there gold finish looks great

 

Bill, even though I don't fish them much the humpback Is a classic design.

 

I'll post a few pictures of some real nice humpbacks tonight when I get home from work.

[whitwolf]

Here you go Bill, a few humpbacks and a small number of baits I received today. The Rebel spinnerbait Is a bait I have always wanted. Rebel baits, good stuff!

[alzun664]

Very nice collection, I got my 1st Rebel (Super Teeny Wee R) in a discount bin some years back and it out-fishes cranks that cost over twice as much. I give the same praise to the Rebel Minnow. Those two lures definitely gave me a lot of confidence in the Rebel name.

I'm not a collector but I can definitely appreciate what you have here, especially when it seems like most guys around my age are always looking for the latest and greatest. I think a lot of them forget these type of lures were catching fish since before some of us were even born. 

[scaleface]

The Deep Wee R was such a good bait that I dont understand why it fell out of favor with anglers .The one improvement they could make is move the front hook hanger forward . The hooks get tangled ,  

[fishwizzard]

I am not much of a crank-guy, but I have had good luck with the teeny wee craws.  Caught a decent number of panfish and, surprisingly, some larger white perch. However, I have decide that those little trebles hurt the fish too much so I haven't replaced the last one I lost.  I wish they either offered them in single hook or I could figure out a way to give them a single, slightly larger barbless treble. 

I also have a bunch of their single barbless hook lures, and when they work I get a real kick out of them, but it seems like only maybe 1 in 4 runs right and I haven't figured out a way to tune them yet. 

[Munkin]

So are you looking for more baits? I have a bunch of older Rebels that I will never use that I can trade.

 

Allen

[snake95]

Rebel fans in our house.  My best popper is an old "zell rowland" (transferred on) autographed pop-r.  Love all of their other pop-r's too.

Also really like the action of the wee-r and deep wee-r, and so do bass and panfish around north Georgia.  The deep wee-r is great in rocky spots because it deflects off the long bill.  The old "crawfish" wee-r color wouldn't cut it for a modern Megabass or Luckycraft, but when you see that brown blur go past among the rocks, looks like it might be a craw to me, and apparently good enough for the bass too.

Wee-r lures sometimes come available in bargain bins in the spring at Walmarts.  I guess they do limited runs of big quantities even though they no longer sell them at regular retail.  

 

 

 

[snake95]

Meant to add, if you like Rebel stuff, the company has a great facebook page to follow.  Pretty much every day they post pics of old and new baits, recent catches, and discuss fishing areas.  I follow them so I can get my daily dose of Rebel eye candy and check out their positive comments. Their facebook page extols the virtues of getting kids fishing and protecting the resource. 

Sure, its part of their marketing, but it's a whole lot more enjoyable to check out a bunch of lures and positive comments, than some of the other negative stuff out there in other media.

I also like the fact that their lures are affordable and work.  I admire fancy lures as much as the next angler, but like that someone is producing effective, cool-looking, easy-to-use baits that are accessible to pretty much anybody.

 

[smalljaw67]

I can't say I'm a rebel head but there are some that I really like. Back in the day the Rebel Crawfish in black with a chartreuse belly was a must have for river smallmouth, no matter how bad the fishing, that bait would always manage to make them bite. I also have some old cranks that weren't popular but they won me money consistently when fishing tournaments and this was also in the early 90s. The cranks were called the "Crank'R" and they were translucent with a lot of glitter, nobody used them except for me it seemed and the largemouth would hammer them but the downside was durability, they would crack on rocks easily. I still have some Rebels baits that I use a lot, like the Super Pop'R, it is long but only weighs 5/16oz, the tin profile is perfect for river fishing because it lets me scoot the bait across the current quick with still looking somewhat natural. The newest member is the Frog'R, a killer little walk the dog bait that is easier to walk than a Zara puppy and has a more compact profile yet still attracts big fish. I'm not a Rebel head but I do like a lot of their baits, old and new.

[whitwolf]

Munkin, yes, let's talk trade!

 

[everythingthatswims]

If I can find them in shallow, stained water in winter or early spring, the little rebel floater minnow kills them. My previous PB was caught on that bait, she was 24" long and hit about the 10th time I ran it through a laydown I always catch fish out of. First week of March 3 years ago.

 

 

Aaaaaand I just found one at wal mart in old packaging that I assume just never sold, it's chrome sexy Shad that I don't think they make anymore!

[Hog Basser]

Good thread!  I'm a huge fan of Rebel, but I don't have a collection nearly as good as that!  The Rebel Crawfish crank is one of my all-time favorites and a must to have with me at all times.  

[Catt]

1972 caught my first bass & my first 15 bass limit on Toledo Bend with blue ringworms.

I still throw ringworms today!

[whitwolf]

Another color that I'm quite fond of In the older, no longer made Rebel "R" series is called Black Perch. It's got red, black, sometime orange.... I have a few duplicates and I might actually fish one of the deep wee r's this Spring.  I only have the one double deep otherwise I would throw one this Summer.  

I have noticed that In a good number of the older(pre 1985) Rebel R series baits there seemed to be a coloration difference in two completely Identical baits. It's kind of cool. I don't know a verified reason for this but have been told when two different folks were painting sometimes they were different. I'm not sure I buy that but I did want to pass along a little here and there.

Catt, I, on occasion, have had a pack break open and I can't resist the urge to throw a few ringworms for posterity. They simply catch fish. I fish a ton of Zoom ringworm type baits a lot.

 

[tbone1993]

The chartreuse teeny wee craw is by far my favorite bluegill crankbait. When the person I'm taking fishing wants to get bigger gills this is my go to lure. Caught some good bass on it too.

[avidone1]

Not sure why, but I always had a bias against rebel lures.

It might go back to the eighties when I had trouble catching bass on them

but the rapala's worked fine.

I do admit to catching the biggest trout of my life on a wee craw

[scaleface]

Whitwolf . Have you ever seen the   add in Bassmaster  magazine that showed how almost all the top pros at a particular tournament were using Rebel lures for that event ?  

[craww]

The craws are one of my all time favorite catch anything baits. Very unique and underrated action. Great price, consistently run right, and actually look like a crawfish. 

Lots of great memories with the crick hopper popper. Gotta watch the  hooks with braid because big fish will hit them.

[whitwolf]

Scale, I have not but I would dearly love to see that!

 

[Munkin]

I would like to have a pack of Red Neck worms and some 4" ring worms in whatever color you can spare. Let me know what you want In trade and we can work something out.

 

Allen

[Ratherbfishing]

Growing up, one of our small town grocery stores had a display rack very much like this (minus the crankbaits).  Viewing this is a lot like stepping into a time machine!  I like how you have displayed things and I especially love those cardboard cards with the Ringworms.  Some collections just require money (sometimes lots of it) but yours is a collection I especially appreciate.  

[Red Bear]

i have a few rebel baits, first lure i ever owned was a rebel crickhopper. i honestly didnt even know they made soft plastics. but ive been using some of their lures since i was a kid.

one of my favorite that i cant find anymore is the rebel tadfry, its a great panfish lure and occasionally will catch bass too. i have one that im afraid to throw anymore for fear of losing it...

[MIbassyaker]

Got one for you Whitwolf, from an old in-fisherman issue I found recently:

You can't see it very well, but the pros are all sporting Rebel hats. My favorite part though is the small print: "for an in depth report on how Ricky, Larry and Tommy fish the ringworm, plus a ringworm sampler send $1 to "Ringworm Tips" in care of the address below..."

I remember many lure companies would have little sample/promo offers like that, and as I kid I used to pick through magazines looking for ones to send in.

[soflabasser]

These are some good Rebel fishing lure collections! I have a couple old Rebel Pop R's and Rebel Crawfish in my fishing lure collection . 

[Outdoor Zack]

As this is a Rebel thread, I will post my question:

Does anybody have experience with the Rebel bluegill crankbait?  I see they are similar in price and features to the KVD 1.0, so I am wondering how Rebel compares.  Thanks for any input