Learn about Rebel Lures’ new series of premium soft plastic lures and how to use them for multi-species fishing success in ponds and other still-water settings.
Rebel Lures has a long history of producing lures that closely imitate natural fish forage, appeal to multiple fish species, and make fishing easy for anglers of all skill levels. Popular examples include the Crickhopper and Wee-Crawfish series, but in truth this goes back to the original Rebel Minnow, which was the lure that launched the brand more than half a century ago.
Rebel Lures also has a history of innovation, and the new LIVEflex Series of premium soft plastic lures checks both boxes.
The LIVEflex baits produce great fishing for multiple species and in a variety of settings, but their small size and the kinds of forage they imitate make them extra well suited for fishing in creeks and ponds. Let’s take a closer look at the baits themselves and how to fish them in ponds.
Rebel LIVEflex Soft Plastic Lures
Rebel LIVEflex lures all match common fish forage varieties and feature realistic body shaping and a fluid action that only soft plastics can provide. They are infused with a strong natural scent for added realism and attraction.
The ultra-durable LIVEflex plastic will last through many fish catches and its buoyancy allows for stand-up bait postures that increase realism and lure visibility. All are small – between 1 3/4 and 2 inches in length – and suitable for various panfish, bass and much more.
Making the LIVEflex lures extra user-friendly, they come with 3 KEG Head Jigs (two 1/16 ounce, one 1/10 ounce), which were designed specifically to match with these baits, and baits come pre-rigged on one head of each size. While these baits can be rigged various ways, the KEG Heads are ideal for many situations, so you can simply pull a pre-rigged bait out the package and tie it on, and you are ready to fish.
All can be crawled or hopped along the bottom when fished on a KEG Head Jig. The Shore Shiner and Creek Craw also lend themselves nicely to swimming presentations.
5 Highly Natural Shapes
- Creek Craw – The Creek Craw is a realistic-shaped, 1 7/8-inch crawfish imitation with a very subtle action. The claws waver as the bait swims and angle upward naturally when it falls or rests on the bottom. Fish it with drags and hops or swim it just off the bottom, especially around rocky and sandy areas and along weed edges.
- Shore Shiner – A narrow swimbait with a rapid tail action, the Shore Shiner suggests a minnow, and minnows provide important gamefish forage in most ponds, especially in shallow water. Because it lends itself to steady swimming presentations, the Shore Shiner provides an excellent option for working down a pond bank and covering water to find active fish.
- Creek Creature – Nymphs and larvae of various insects – among them, Mayflies, damselflies and dragonflies – offer important forage for pond fish of many kinds, and the Creek Creature represents these insects well. Fish this bait slowly, on or near the bottom, or suspend it beneath a float and cast near weeded edges, downed trees and other cover. Using a float, make the bait dance in place with slight jiggles of the rod tip and then pause before dragging the float a foot or so and jiggling the rod tip more.
- Cata Crawler – Modeled after a catalpa worm, the 2-inch Cata Crawler suggest various caterpillars and worms and makes an outstanding finesse worm, whether worked on the bottom as rigged in the package or just off the bottom with a split shot or dropshot rig. An alternative for fishing specific targets is to use the 1/16-ounce KEG Head Jig but hook the bait right in the center to form a flick shake rig. Cast to cover, let it sink, and watch for the line to jump!
- Hopper – As you’d expect by the name, the 1 3/4-inch Rebel Hopper suggests a cricket or grasshopper, and it comes in two cricket colors and two grasshopper colors. The long legs create subtle, enticing motion. Focus on pond edges, especially near grassy banks, beside laydowns and beneath overhanging trees.
Rigging Options
Option No. 1 in many situations is fishing any of the LIVEflex baits exactly as they come rigged with standard jighead rigging on a KEG Head Jig. The KEG Head works nicely for hopping or dragging the bait on or near the bottom, and gentle twitches allow you to rock the rounded jighead, so the bait dances without moving horizontally. The KEG Head is also well balanced for swimming presentations. The two sizes, 1/16 and 1/10 ounce, cover most pond applications and match these baits perfectly.
For fishing around plentiful weeds or snaggy cover like brushpiles, a light Texas rig or a jighead designed for weedless rigging provide good options. For either, it’s important to push the hook all the way through and “skin hook” it back on the other side, as opposed to fully burying the hook point, for effective hooksets with the tough LIVEflex plastic.
A dropshot rig with the bait nose-hooked provides a nice option when the fish are extra fussy because the bait has an uninhibited action and stays just off the bottom and highly visible. A dropshot also snags less than a jighead over some craggy bottom types, but still with an exposed hook. While dropshots are most commonly associated with vertical, stationary presentations, it works wonderfully to cast a short dropshot rig, let the weight find bottom and work it back with drags, jiggles and pauses.
A couple of other excellent options include a split shot rig, which performs as an extreme finesse version of a Carolia rig, and a float rig, with the bait on the KEG Head but suspended beneath a float to slow the presentation and keep the offering in a specific zone. Use a set float to present the bait 3 feet deep or less and a slip float for deeper presentations.
Pond Fishing Locations
Take time to assess a pond before you start fishing. Often ponds locations look similar at a glance, but certain features make some spots hold far more fish than others.
- Inflows – Current, fresh food sources, channel edges, cooler water during summer and water color changes are just some of the draws that make inflows worth investigating.
- Pond Dams – A pond’s deepest water typically is near its dam, often with a sharp drop from the bank, defined channel edges, riprap or some type of spillway structure adding appeal.
- Points – Points connect coves and pockets with creek channels and provide a nice mix of depths in a small area. Beyond being dependable fish-holding areas, points help with patterning because the fish’s positioning along a point provides clues about productive depths in other areas.
- Weed Edges – Vegetation holds minnows, crawfish, aquatic insects and more. Edges provide places for predator fish to conceal themselves and ambush would-be meals.
- Channel Swings – Often an isolated steeper section of bank reveals where a creek channel swings close to the pond edge, and those tend to be fish-holding spots.
- Rockpiles – Like weeds, rockpiles attract forage while providing hiding places for fish. Don’t overlook them. Satellite maps are great for identifying rockpiles you might not see without the benefit of a “bird’s eye view.”
- Downed Trees – Keep in mind that downed trees commonly extend well beyond what you can see. Mentally project what they should do, and be sure to try those spots, in addition to the parts you can see.
