Rebel Teeny Wee-Crawfish:
A Little Fish Catching Magnet

By Bill Schultz

In 1992 I bought my first Rebel Teeny Wee-Crawfish to fish bluegills and largemouth bass in a pond I have access to. I still remember my first cast with this little fish catching magnet. I caught two bluegills and I knew I had a winner. It wasn’t until August 4, 1994 that I gave it a try for stream smallmouth bass and from that day it’s been one of my “go to” lures for river smallies. I’ve possibly fished this lure for smallies as much as anyone in the country. Since catching my first smallie in May of 1994, I’ve caught and released 26,737, with over 15,000 coming from my river outings. Conservatively, I’ve probably caught well over 6,000 smallmouth bass on the Rebel Teeny Wee-Crawfish! This year it continued to be an important tool in my arsenal!

On many of my wading and kayak trips I’ll have two or three rods rigged and always one with the Teeny Wee-Crawfish. I use medium-light St. Croix rods with fast and extra-fast actions when fishing the Rebel Crawfish. I prefer longer rods to help get extra distance with this small one and a quarter inch 1/10th ounce lure, so you’ll see me using rods that are 6’10” to 7’. My reels of choice are Daiwa spinning reels in the 2000 and 2500 size along with Pflueger reels in the 30 size. This will give you a size comparison if you use another brand. I prefer the faster retrieve ration of at least 6.2:1, and all have the long cast spools, which are important for casting this small, finesse crankbait. Also, to help with distance, I use 8 and 10-pound test superline with a 35 to 45 inch 8 or 10- pound test fluorocarbon leader attached to the superline with a Uni-to-Uni knot. Using this set-up, I can easily cast the Teeny Wee across the smaller rivers I fish, getting distances that won’t spook fish in those streams that can be very clear.

One of the great things about the Teeny Wee-Crawfish is that you don’t have to be an expert to fish it. After just a few minutes of instruction I’ve had beginners using it with success. The Teeny Wee-Crawfish can be fished a variety of ways, but I fish it very simply. I cast cross current or down stream and bring it back with a steady retrieve and not too fast. The deadly combination of the vibration from an extremely tight wiggle along with the small rattles in the lure, and as a shallow running lure bouncing off the bottom and rocks, it’s so enticing for those smallies. The lure’s small size, smaller treble hooks and that it swims slightly nose down helps it avoid many snags that larger crankbaits seem to find. In clear water, with skittish fish, the light weight and small profile is perfect and won’t spook them. When cast, it lands so softly, smallies hardly know it’s there.
In recent years I’ve begun removing the back #14 treble hook and replacing it with a #10. This does not change the lure’s great action but does eliminate the bending and breaking that happens more often with the #14 hooks. It also facilitates more hook-ups and a bonus is that the ever so slight extra weight makes this a suspending crankbait, which can be a benefit in some situations.

In faster moving water of rivers, the steady retrieve has worked best for me, with the current turning an already tight wiggle into an even faster shout out for a smallie to strike. Casting up stream also works, but it’s more difficult to judge your speed to get that extra vibration, which I believe enhances and triggers strikes. In slower moving water you can try a variety of retrieves. As a floater/diver, you can cast this lure, let it sit, and twitch it like a topwater. It’s not a suspending lure, unless you add the #10 treble on the back, but it floats to the surface very slowly so you can retrieve it fast and then let it sit, then repeat this action. Often during this stop and go retrieve you’ll get the strike as it slowly floats up or suspends with the extra weight of the larger treble. Another similar technique is giving the reel a few cranks, twitch the Teeny Wee-Crawfish a few times and let it sit.

I’ve used all the great colors, but prefer the natural shades of Cajun, Ditch (brown), Stream, Softshell and Moss. If you happen to know the color of the crawfish in your river, matching color is an option that might increase the effectiveness. In muddy or stained water, I also spend a lot of time with Firetiger, Chartreuse/Green Back and Chartreuse. But, based on my hundreds of hours with this lure, I really feel color is secondary to all the other qualities of the Rebel Teeny Wee-Crawfish. As noted, these include a combination of tight wiggle, rattle, vibration, attention to detail, great profile, and small size.

Based on my tremendous success with the Teeny Wee-Crawfish, I would strongly recommend that you give this fish catching magnet a try! I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how your success catching and releasing more smallies will increase and using it for the other species I mentioned will add to your fishing fun. Also, just because it’s small doesn’t mean large fish won’t hit this little guy. I mostly fish smaller rivers where a two to three-pound smallie is a big fish, but happily my heaviest river smallie at 19.5 inches and 5 pounds came on the Teeny Wee-Crawfish as well as my longest river smallie at 20-inches. I feel the small size enhances strikes across the size spectrum of smallmouth bass and other fish species.

The number of fish species I’ve caught on this lure is now at an amazing 16, including a small musky and sturgeon. So, you might just get a surprised while using it.

For information on the Rebel Teeny Wee-Crawfish and dozens of other great lures go to www.lurenet.com. If you would like to ask me any questions email me at kayakfishingwisconsin@gmail.com