Sinkers

A metal fishing weight used to sink a lure or bait. There are many different shapes, sizes, and applications of sinkers. They are employed in freshwater and saltwater and primarily used for fishing with lightweight objects, especially natural bait.

Sinkers are made from a number of metals. They were once virtually all made of lead, and most sinkers in North America still are lead; however, an increasing number are being made from other materials due to toxicity concerns. Lead sinkers were banned years ago in Great Britain because it was believed that small sinkers (actually shot) were being swallowed by swans and killing them. This has led to the use of nontoxic metals, including brass, steel, tin, and tungsten, in small sinkers, although these were in somewhat scarce supply in the United States as of early 1999.

In North America, there has been a growing concern by environmental agencies about lead fishing sinkers (lead in shotgun loads was banned around water in the 1980s), and at least one state has enacted a ban on certain size lead sinkers and jigs due to loon mortality, while others have recommended that anglers voluntarily cease using small lead (in sinkers, jigs, and flies). This is likely to be a more widespread issue in the future, especially if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enacts regulations.

Naturally, these materials all differ in various ways, and both anglers and manufacturers are still adjusting to differences in densities, durability, cost, and other factors. Tin, for example, which is softer than other nonlead metals, is mainly being used in removable split shot. Steel, which is expensive but the most durable and noisiest metal, is being used in sliding and fixed sinkers. Brass is harder and noisier than lead but less so than steel; hard brass weights are less likely to be deformed, but poor quality control standards in production can lead to abrasive surfaces that will cut line.

Using sinkers

Sinkers used in trolling include: torpedo (1), torpedo-style bead chain (2), keel-style bead chain (3), bottom-walking (4 and 8), planing (5), clinch (6), rubber-core (7), and bottom-bouncing (9).

In an overall sense, there are fixed and free-sliding sinkers. Fixed versions attach directly to a fishing line or leader (dropper line) by being pinched, twisted, or tied; they move when-ever the bait or lure moves and when a fish takes the bait or lure. Free-sliding, or slip, sinkers ride along the line; they are used almost exclusively with bait and allow the line to move when a fish takes the bait without moving the sinker, which provides less resistance than a fixed sinker and may be preferable for shy or light-biting fish.

Split shot, which are small pinch-on spheres that are commonly used in freshwater fishing, are usually attached firmly ahead of a hook and used with light line for suspending natural bait or drifting it along a stream bottom. Very light shot is also used with flies in trout fishing and with processed baits for coarse fishing. A rubber core sinker is fastened by turning the rubber core around the line ahead of the hook or lure; it is often used in trolling. Clinch sinkers are affixed like split shot. Split shot, egg, and pencil sinkers can be fixed to a dropper leader via a three-way swivel, which lessens hangups when fishing bait in fast water and facilitates unsnagging without losing the entire rig.

Obviously, heavier sinkers are needed the deeper you fish, the greater the wind pushes you while drifting, the faster you troll, or the faster the current. A golden rule for using sinkers is to use the lightest sinker that you can get away with and still fish in the necessary manner or place.

In addition to weight, sinker shape has an effect on casting, sink rate, and ability to hold bottom. Bulky sinkers are least castable and offer most air resistance; bottom-heavy sinkers offer the most accuracy because they don’t roll over in the air. Streamlined and compact sinkers have the best sink rate, which is of special interest in current and partially explains why split shot is so popular in rivers and streams. Split shot is also good for resisting snagging in current, because it rolls over rocky bottoms. In stillwater or where there is a soft bottom with light current, a sinker with a rounded bottom is adequate, but where there is heavier current or surf action, an angled sinker that digs into the bottom is necessary.

Trolling sinkers

Trolling sinkers include the torpedo sinker, which has minimal drag or water resistance because of shape; a torpedo-style bead chain sinker, which swivels and prevents line twist; a keel style, which tracks well with little swaying motion; a planing sinker, which dives to achieve depth; a clinch sinker, which is simple to add to or remove from fishing line; and a rubber core sinker, which is simple to use and has no abrasion. Many sizes and weights are available. These are all fastened in line, either being affixed on the main fishing line or tied to a leader. The bead chain styles are especially good for preventing line twist and, with a snap, aid leader and lure changing.

Slip sinkers

Sinkers

Sliding or slip sinkers include ball, egg or barrel, cone or bullet, and walking versions. Egg and ball sinkers slide freely on the line, are often stopped by a small split shot or a barrel swivel, and are preferred for open water. Cone shaped sinkers provide minimal drag, are relatively weedless, and are used with plastic worms. They may be pegged with a toothpick to keep them from sliding in heavy cover; some feature a corkscrewed stem that grabs the head of the worm and keeps the sinker and worm together. Walking sinkers are used with a stopper when casting or trolling with bait along the bottom; they remain upright when a fish runs with the bait.

Bottom sinkers

Bottom fishing sinkers include pyramid, bank, bell, and split shot. Choice depends on fishing conditions, including the species you seek, the depth to be fished, and such factors as current and wave action. Pyramid sinkers hold bottom especially well where there is much current or wave action and are especially useful where there is an undertow current. Bank sinkers are good in deep water and cast well. Split shot are preferred for light tackle. Dipsey sinkers are also used with light to medium tackle and where bait is suspended off the bottom above the sinker.

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2

3

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5

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7

9

8

Cone

Egg/barrel

Split shot

Bell

Pyramid

Bank