November Freshwater Lure of the Month

Rebel Crawfish

Tim Gowing is a name Fishing Enthusiast subscribers might be familiar with.  He’s responsible for several of the lures we’ve selected over the past few years.  Gowing designed this month’s influential selection for Rebel early in the company’s history.  Considered a master lure maker, Gowing has been designing lures longer than some of the FE staff have been fishing.  By his own estimation, Gowing says he’s been designing lures for over 30 years.  That’s plenty of time to cook up a mess of killer classics.  In fact, if one were to crack open an angler’s tackle box at random, it’s highly likely that Gowing’s name will be behind more lures than any other individual designer.  That’s quite an accomplishment.

Though Rebel is wholly owned by EBSCO Industries, the Rebel Crawfish remains one of their best selling lures.  The company claims that it’s still one of the best selling lures of all time.  Perhaps Rebel Crawfish sales numbers do top huge selling classics such as Rapala’s Original minnow, the Johnson Silver Minnow, or the Mepps Aglia.  Regardless, it’s true that anglers consider the Rebel Crawfish to be without peer.  It’s the go-to bait for an alarming number of amateurs and professionals alike.  Anglers have a diehard loyalty towards this lure that is truly unique.  We can’t recall a lure that even comes close to the level of devotion that the Rebel Crawfish generates.  Except, maybe, another Jim Gowing designed lure.

Featured lure: Rebel Crawfish

Designer: Jim Gowing

Manufacturer: Rebel (an Ebsco Industries company)

Technique:

Rebel recommends that your style of retrieve closely imitates the behavior of a live crawfish.  “Cast around structure, muddy banks or rocky shore lines.  Use a slow, deliberate stop-and-go retrieve.  This will attract every nearby fish… whatever the species, large or small.  Get it digging the bottom along a rock ledge or around structure… then, be ready!!”