Resurrection and Reinvention…
Rebel’s TracDown Ghost Minnow and the new Lindy Lil’ Guy are new to the scene this year. Both were introduced at the 2015 ICAST fishing tackle trade show. While the smaller version of the Lindy Lil’ Guy is new this year, the TracDown minnow is a reintroduction.
The TracDown Ghost Minnow has been a killer on trout streams in the southeastern part of the U.S., but it hasn’t been accepted much elsewhere.
Because this small lure also is a pretty good panfish lure, Rebel, part of the PRADCO-Fishing family, is re-introducing it with barbless trebles. For restricted gear waters where single barbless hooks are required, you would need to replace the trebles with a small Siwash as clipping two barbs off would give you a really small hook.
The 2 ¼-inch lure comes in trout-focused finishes, as well as some that will tempt bass and panfish.
I can see these slow-sinking, minnow-imitating lures being great on some of our lakes and in rivers for searun cutthroat. They’re small enough that you could cast them with a fly rod—say an 8-weight.
In other PRADCO news, the popular Lil’ Guy now has a little brother, the Small Lil’ Guy. The downsized lure/harness consists of the wobbler-like body, five beads and a double-hook leader.
The smaller size is more trout friendly, and it works well behind an inline flasher or by itself as the body provides a lot of action. I also see this working well for kokanee with a modification.
The Lil’ Guy was designed to be used with a nightcrawler, but for most trout and kokanee, that presents a lure package that is too large. The same can be said for its baby brother. However, by clipping the trailing hook and loading it with maggots or shoepeg corn, you’ll have a killer. One other possibility is to put whatever bait you’re using on both hooks. You won’t score a double (in all likelihood) but you’ll double the scent trail, and that should help.
Both the Lil’ Guy and the Small Lil’ Guy come in 11 colors.
For more information, go to: www.lurenet.com.