One Mann's Minus is
every Man's Plus!
by Pete Middleton

INTRODUCTION by Editor, Nick Caine
I'm sure Pete's article about MANN'S plugs will strike a chord with many hardcore lure-heads .... it's one of those lures that will often save the day when the going's got really tough! The Manns 1-Minus probably tops the popularity stakes, followed by the Baby 1-Minus, then the Manns Stretch, closely followed by the Super-stretch.

If you're not a Manns fan already, I'm sure that after reading Pete's excellent article, you'll be very keen to get some and get out there on your favourite venues to see if they are indeed a PLUS! Here's what Pete has to say about them:

Depth Control is Critical
On my rivers I would say that probably depth control of my lures is more important than their action: the reason I say this is that my rivers aren't very deep or wide and I need to retrieve my lures above weed beds etc. to avoid them getting snagged, and that's why my MANN'S 1-MINUSes are such big PLUSes for me !

Usually the depth which a plug runs at depends on quite a few factors such as :-

• its shape and buoyancy
• size, design and angle of its diving lip
• water flow and the speed that you retrieve your plug
• weight of your trace, links and line etc.

Some plugs even have an adjustable lip e.g. Abu's Hi-Lo, that lets you control the depth which they run at, but they are still usually affected by other factors that I've just mentioned.

MANN'S 1-MINUSes are Big PLUSes !
Some other lures though are so well designed and manufactured with such accurate buoyancy that they run at pretty much the same depth whatever you do — I'm talking about Mann's 1-Minus of course. This depth control is very useful when you need, as I do, to run the lure above weeds and other snags.

Although most of the places I fish aren't very deep or wide there are plenty of pike, chub and perch plus a few biggies: I've had pike to 22 lb, chub to 4 lb, perch to just over 2 lb and trout to just over 4 lb so I can't grumble. As I generally fish for chub, either on or just below the surface, the MANN'S 1-Minuses are a absolute God-send!

Starting Out
I started-out lure fishing, like a lot of people, with some of those Shakespeare's "Big Alphabet" plugs, in particular the "Big S". These plugs are OK in their own way: they dive quickly yet are very buoyant, which is alright if you can see what you're doing all the time (not the case on my local rivers). I've had quite a lot of trouble controlling the diving depth of alphabet plugs as they'll go down quickly and often get stuck in snags.

A mate of mine showed me a neat trick how to drill holes in Big Ss and put some tiny ball bearings inside to make them less buoyant - and make them rattle as well. This worked OK, but still not quite as well as I'd have liked. Looking around to find a more suitable plug that suited my situation I soon discovered Mann's lures.

Steady Retrieve Depth & Great Action
At first I thought that the standard 1-Minus would be good for pike but too big for chub... not the case! — chub of all sizes go crazy for this lure, hence I love using them. They consistently retrieve at a consistent depth, with a great side-to-side waggling action, cast like bullets allowing for better accuracy over distance getting them into often tricky places where hopefully those big chub are lurking.

OTHER MANN'S MINUSes
As well as the original Mann's 1-Minus there are now quite a few variations including the Mid, Baby, Tiny and Stretch 1-Minuses.

They're all very tough and extremely well-made plugs, maybe costing more than a bog-standard Big Alphabet plug or something like that, but that's not a "minus point" for me! If you shop around you can usually get a Mann's 1-Minus for about £7 and personally I don't think that's too bad for such a brilliant lure.

Smaller MANN'S MINUSes
Mid, Baby and Tiny 1-Minuses are smaller and smaller versions of the original Mann's plug and I've found that they're very good for fishing smaller rivers and streams.

When the water's warm and perch are hunting and feeding off and close to the surface, the little Mann's Minuses often do "The Business" and catch plenty of chub and pike too. Often enough you can end up with two fish in the net at once when a pike grabs the perch or chub on the way in!

Colour Choice
To be quite honest, I've never been able to get my head round what some people say about lure colours and patterns i.e. how, why, when where you should choose and use this pattern or that colour etc. Personally I don't think that there are any hard and fast rules like some people try to say.

What I do is very simple: I buy one pale, one bright and one dark colour and try them out to see which one gets the best result: if I don't catch with one I'd just change to another. Some days one colour seems to work better than others and vice versa: don't ask me why because I haven't been able to work it out yet!

The Mann's Minus colours that I mainly use are Tennessee Shad, Fire Shad ...... and I've got another handpainted in a matt black finish: this makes the 1-Minus look like one of those fat juicy black slugs that drive chub crazy a certain times of the year, and it certainly seems to work well for me, and will do for you too so why not try it for yourself?

Chub Magic
What amazes me is their magical effect on big chub which seem to appear from nowhere and go crazy for them. Although of course I love to catch big chub I enjoy every fish that comes along, including a few surprises like trout and even on ocassion, a carp!

By the way I very much enjoyed reading Ralph Walker's article about   " Chub Satisfaction " and I'd agree with most everything he says — a man after my own heart. If you want to know more about catching big chub with lures and flies, it's well worth having a read of Ralph's ace article.... check it out!

Bigger Mann's
If you fish different sorts of rivers and lakes you'll occassionally need something a bit bigger like a Stretch or Super Stretch 1-Minus.

As their name suggests the Mann's Stretches are longer and thinner than a normal 1-Minus. However, they still run back at a steady 1 or 2 feet below the surface and as you'd expect they've got a slightly different action. You may think you'd catch bigger pike on them but fish of all sizes still have a go.

One Man's Tackle
Editor Nick has asked me to include a bit about what sort of tackle I use — well, it's nothing very special I'm afraid....most of the places I fish aren't very deep or wide, so my tackle's geared to suit this kind of fishing, and it may not suit you.

My rod's an old Normark 9ft Gold Medallion spinning rod that's looking rather the worse for wear (I'm ashamed to say!) — really must get it overhauled sometime! My reel's a Abu Cardinal fixed spool, as I prefer this to a multiplier, only my personal choice though.

As for lines etc., I'd been using mono for years until braid came along, which I now think is brilliant. Because of the sort of fishing that I do i.e. not very deep, the floating braid seems to help surface and shallow diving plugs stay up where they should be....and 20 or 30 lb is about the right BS range for me.

As for traces I use bog standard 20 or 28 lb wire, a couple of Size 12 Berkley swivels and a small Duolock snaplink — strong but light enough not to affect the depth, buoyancy and action of a Mann's 1-Minus.

Deeper MANN'S PLUSes
As I don't visit waters much deeper than 15 feet maximum I don't have much experience with this particular lure; however if you fish much deeper than that, the big-lipped Manns 20+ will do the job for sure.

Enjoy your Lure Fishing !
Hope you've enjoyed reading about my view of Mann's Minuses and the other Manns lures and I make no apologies for giving them such a good plug, because they're excellent lures that you should know about - if you don't already!

As you've gathered, I really enjoy my lure-fishing with Mann's lures and hope you do too!
All the Best,
Pete Middleton.

Please click here to go back to the top of this page

Please click here to go back to the Lure-fishing Menu

If you've got any questions or comments,
please contact me Nick Caine, Editor
or Dep. Ed. Brian Barwell
email us at: NickCaine @ Talk21.com