The days before needlefish...

[DZ]

TLAP,
Karl's right - the original Rebel was "the" go to plug at least from Montauk to the Cape. I also used the Atom Junior when the rebels didn't produce.

A little history:

"The original Rebel Wind Cheater Super Minnow has long since been
discontinued (1983). There was a time when it was the most popular minnow type plug used on the striper coast. There were two sizes of the old Super Minnow: the F90, which was 7 inches long and weighed 2 ounces, and the F80 which was 6 inches long and weighed 1.5 ounces. They were the "heavy duty" versions of Rebel's popular series of minnow swimmers, the F40 and F30, which were not thru-wired. The F80 and F90 were floating models and cast very well for minnow type swimmers, hence the name Wind Cheater. They were also thru-wired for extra strength when targeting striped bass, pike, muskie, and other large fish. They were the only thru-wired minnow type plug on the market."

A more in depth story about them will be posted on Tattoos site in the future.

The original super minnows were discontinued just as the needlefish really started to become popular AND after Pradco acquired the Cotton Cordell Redfin and Bomber. They replaced the super minnow in the market.

DZ

[tlapinski]

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]

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]

I need to join the "needle revolution"

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

[DZ]

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]

Originally Posted by tlapinski

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

[*LB]

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]

chunks

[Saltheart]

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.

[basswipe]

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.