The days before needlefish... - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

tlapinski · 04-29-2005, 10:32 AM

DZ, I discovered, for myself, the super and windcheater rebels you speak of recently. I have since put some effort into acquiring a solid stash of them. Fortunately for me, I have come into a few collections fo both styles in large enough quantities to keep me happy. Another lure which has seen a lot of use for me over the last few seasons is the 7" Red Fin. I love these things! Loaded and stock, I have probably caught as many fish on them as just about any other plug in my arsenal. I have a solid black one which I used quite extensively last season. There is as much bone color showing through on it now as there is original black. Easily 100+ fish over 20#'s on it last season alone.

vineyardblues · 04-29-2005, 10:42 AM

Hi Toby.

1) eels
2) needle
3) the old 7inch floating rebels
4)5inch split back rebals (yellow) and the black one's

And yes, I have that plug for you

VB

BrianS · 04-29-2005, 10:50 AM

I need to join the "needle revolution"

I have a bunch, but really am pretty unsure how to use them...

DZ · 04-29-2005, 11:39 AM

T,
I agree.
A chapter from the "Snowstorm Blitz" entitled "Needles and Fins" - guess what the "Fins" stand for?
Redfins are the #1 plug out of my bag - best and most affordable striper plug on the market.
Black "Fin" is deadly.

DZ

Nebe · 04-29-2005, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlapinski

Easily 100+ fish over 20#'s on it last season alone.

*LB · 04-29-2005, 01:14 PM

I have had good sucess with Bombers but I have never tried a Red Fin. Because they both look similar, and my local shop doesn't carry Red Fins, I never went out of my way to buy one. Can anyone describe the difference in action or castability between these two types of lures?

I find the Bombers to be most effective with a slooowww retrive - as a result the jointed versions don't seem to have the action at that speed. I like black and the school bus color. For some reason the hooks on the tackle shop bombers are a lot beefier than the X-mart version of the same plugs. Another good reason to support the local tackle shops.

goosefish · 04-29-2005, 03:08 PM

chunks

Saltheart · 04-29-2005, 03:27 PM

There was a time when the only plugs I had were black and silver rebels , big danny swimmers , Atom swimmers and atom poppers. That was it. We also carried metal like hopkins , some big spoons and some bucktail jigs.

FormerUser · 04-29-2005, 03:41 PM

Kastmasters,Atom poppers,Bombers,Cordell Redfins,Rebels and Mirrolures were what I used throughout the 80s with good success especially on blues.They also worked quite well on freshwater stripers and hybrids when I was stationed in TX.I even took some decent redfish and specs on them when I made the journey down to Port Aransas and Corpus.

Crafty Angler · 04-29-2005, 05:12 PM

Tin squids.

Mr. Sandman · 05-05-2005, 10:39 AM

going back in time.... while todays go-to is the needle, in the late 70's and 80's it was the gibbs bottle for me. Prior to that it was the rebel.

Funny I don't fish the bottle or rebel that much anymore..I love the plug but todays customs are more fun, in fact, as for the future...while I still fish needles a lot, I am moving away from them more and more. Fishing more swimming custom plugs. Needles offer castbility and a range of fishing options that few plugs do. I think it will be around for a long time. Last year my "go-to" was the big surf howdy (although fished like a needle) followed by a pike then 2.5 oz habs needle. Whatever seems to work finds its way to the top. After last spring, I found myself fishing the Salmo Fatso....with VMC hooks. I took several nice fish with that plug last year. Looks like a real fish, no lip but wobbles nicely and looks real! However, once the spring run was over it did not catch as well as the others.