By Steven Johnson
I must admit that I wasn’t thinking about fish when I pointed to a spot I wanted my daughter, Sarah, to cast toward. I was eying a current line and rock outcrop that would make a good photo background. The trout didn’t know that, though.
Sarah, who was 6 years old at the time, fired a cast across the river and was faithfully cranking back a Rebel Teeny Deep Wee Crawfish to accommodate my photo needs when a trout stopped the little plug in its tracks.
“I’ve got one, Daddy!” she called out in delight, as she reeled quickly to land a 10-inch rainbow. I snapped a quick shot of her battling the fish and then scurried to her side to help land her first trout. A few minutes later, the trout was back in the river, and Sarah was back to casting and cranking her Deep Teeny Wee.
Rebel Crawfish are best known as stream smallmouth lures, but they also rank among the best trout lures ever made. Because of their cast-and-crank effectiveness, they are outstanding for introducing a youngster (or any newcomer, for that matter) to trout fishing.
Inexperienced trout fishermen must learn about currents and current breaks and how the fish relate to both, while at the same time getting used to wading on slick rocks or casting from steep banks in many cases. Therefore, it’s helpful to use lures that require no extra effort to control depths or special retrieves to make them effective.
Working a Rebel Crawfish is the essence of simplicity. Cast the bait and crank it back quickly enough to keep it wobbling. Whether it does its dances midway down in the water column or kicks off rocks along the bottom, the bait is doing its job and is apt to produce fish.
Depending on the size of the stream and the strength of the current, casts can be aimed at the opposite bank, quartered upstream or fired straight upstream. If you’re teaching someone who is brand new to stream fishing, begin the day fishing pools, where the current is less of a factor.
The best Rebel Crawfish for most trout streams are the Teeny Wee-Crawfish and the Deep Teeny Wee. For larger rivers or waters that hold mostly large trout, an original Wee-Crawfish is a good choice. Great colors for trout waters, which tend to run quite clear, are stream crawfish, softshell crawfish and shrimp crawfish.
If you want to give the trout a different look, miniature Rebel baits that offer similar appeal and simplicity include Tracdown Minnows (NEW for Rebel), Teeny-Wee Frogs and Hellgrammites. Tracdown minnows and Hellgrammites sink when they are not in motion.
Use lightweight gear and push-button reels to keep things extra easy. A Shakespeare Synergy Microcast or Microspin combo is ideal. Spool the reels with 6-pound-test Silver Thread Trout Fishing Line and tie on a Teeny Deep Wee, and you’ll be ready to teach someone how to fish for trout!