pro-nature, pro-outdoor
Fishing Sinkers Selecting The Best Size of Sinker
But before we look at some different situations, let’s talk about how to choose the best size of fishing sinker to use. Beginner anglers tend to use more weight than they really need. Often, the reason behind this trend is that more weight tends to be easier to cast for someone starting out. One problem with using too much weight, is that it will go through the water column faster than what may be the optimal rate to attract and catch fish. If you're looking to target a species that's off the bottom, maybe you're lure fishing for trout or bass, you need to keep this in mind so your bait or lure is in the same zone as the fish. It’ll also crash into the water with more disturbance - an important consideration when freshwater fishing in a small pond or river, for example Even if the target fish is bottom oriented – like a catfish, flounder or ray – you can still go too heavy. Big sinkers dig into the bottom, causing poor bite indication and missed fish. Finding a balance between too heavy and too light is important and will come with a some experimentation and thought as to how your rig and sinker is performing. Too heavy of a weight might overload your rod to breaking point, or may be difficult to retrieve. Ideally, you’ll want to have different weights and sizes of the preferred style of weight so you can find that balance and adjust if you need to, as conditions change on the water. Ultimately, it’s down to your judgement to work out the best fishing weight to fit your needs on the day - it’ll soon be obvious that you’re fishing too heavy or light if you take into account the above guidance. A minor adjustment one way or the other – heavier or lighter; 1oz to 1.5oz, for example – is often all that’s needed. A good tip is to check out the weight rating on your favored rod or pole – it’s often printed on the rod near the handle end. Most will give you an idea in ounces or grams about what sort of sinker weight is going to work best and it’s important to not overload the rod. Likewise, choose too small a sinker and the rod won’t cast properly as the action is too stiff to compress under the smaller weight.
.jpg?x-oss-process=style/small)
