Mann’s Bait Company created a fish catcher that stood the test of time. Anglers still catch ledge fish on them deep in the summer months all over the country. The Mann’s Little George was nothing more than a tear-drop spinner made of lead and painted chrome. The bait could cast a mile. Be straight retrieved or short hopped down break lines and steep drops.
That bait is still a hot seller. However its cousin came and went in the night without much fanfare. The Mann’s Super George was a much larger profile bait. It was plastic on the outside with a one knocker in the middle and the same famous tail spinner. The bait had a profile similar to a Rat-L-Trap except with a one knocker sound and tail spinner.
The effectiveness of this gem is surprising. My re-introduction to the bait came a couple years ago. I was fishing a buddy bass tournament in Arkansas. Several friends were gathered at a buddy’s house for a barbeque and a little trash talking before the tournament.
In walks my buddy Charlie bragging franticly about this throwback bait he’s going to throw in the tournament. Lake Dardanelle was a muddy mess. The only bite we’d found was shallow. So we scoffed and ridiculed his Super George selection relentlessly. I even joked with his partner, another close friend, he was going to have a long day fishing by himself the next morning with his partner throwing gimmick baits.
So Charlie was quiet the next morning. He went out with his Super George tied. Vandy starts off on a point throwing a Carolina Rig. Charlie made a cast away from the point and started hopping the Super George. Wham! He set the hook and immediately hollered that he’d caught a catfish. Vandy looked back, half interested to see Charlie’s line surging toward the surface – not how one would expect a catfish to behave. Vandy was on the net, and after a short fight, a nearly 8-pound bass was in the net — a giant for Lake Dardanelle and the big fish of the tournament.
Charlie’s throwback lure and subsequent ridicule was good for $1,000 and a handshake from Forrest Wood himself. Talk about egg on our faces. Since that time, I’ve acquired a handful of Super Georges and caught a few fish on it. While I won’t say it’s a miracle cure to ledge fishing, I like having the old bait in my arsenal for no other reason than the fish haven’t seen one very much. When the conditions are right, they really chomp on it.
The bait isn’t sold anymore, and Mann’s doesn’t have any in their inventory. Occassionally I find one on eBay. But those of us that have them and still fish them know what they can do. Some of us learned the hard way.
