lead weight preferrence for river fishin'

Bill, you aint gonna usually find that kinda tackle in Walmart..I think You Talking No Roll sinkers...Thats what I use, and use them up to 1/2 pound each in rivers...But mostly around 5-oz's

 

Bill,
I know which ones you are reffering to. I dont know the correct name for them but I've always called them "half dollar sinkers" because thats about the size of the ones I have. The ones I have are 3 oz. in size and I use them on a three way rig. I got them when I was stationed in California and used them for Halibut fishing.

 

Jack,
how often do you go up to 1/2 pound? What size line do you use when going that heavy? I may need something that heavy to deal with the current in our canals.

 

Good question, and one I happen to have a fairly strong opinion on. I have gone over this a few times before, so here goes again.

Egg sinkers are great and work fine, as ling as you are casting them straight downstream of you. They will sink to the bottom and stay there - unless there's a strong slope to the bottom, then they'll slide down hill a bit. Most of my catfishing rigs are made up with egg sinkers (1 to 2 oz moslty) and I cast them straight (or almost straight) back from the boat.

A lot of people like No Roll sinkers. They are rigged and used basically the same as egg sinkers. In little or no current they will stay where you put them a little better than an egg sinker, but in a decent current they will still be dragged ("no roll" does not mean "no drag") if cast across the current.

I fish the coastal rivers, and the bottoms of most are mostly sand. I always have at least one rod rigged with a pyramid sinker. The shape of pyramid sinkers is intended to dig into the sand a bit and grab and stay there. I use the rod with the pyramid sinker for casting out across the current. I still can not cast straight across a heavy current and expect the rig to stay where it lands, but with a moderate current and a 2 to 4 oz pyramid it will stay put fairly well. I also rig this rod with a sliding sinker snap (as is commonly used for surf fishing) so that I can change the sinker easily - changing the wieght or shape to fit conditions.

I am convinced, as you mentioned, that using the wrong sinker, so that a rig is able to move around a good deal after the cast, is the single greatest source of snags for many people. If the rig stays where it lands, then it has a much lower chance of finding a snag, compared to dragging across the bottom until it inevitably finds one.

By the way, the sinker sizes I mentioned are with 15 mono line and water generally less than 20 feet deep. Deeper water, heavier line, and stronger currents will all increase the drag on the line and thereby require heavier sinkers.

 

Bill

If you have a lot of egg sinkers to use up you can flatin them out with a hammer ; ) It works great. One way is to insert some mono line or thin wire in it first then smash em up.

-Jim-

 

I use sinker sliders with 2-4 oz bank sinkers. They allow me to change the weight out easier and they dig in when you cast them out. The slider allows the line to move easily through so there is little resistance.

 

Whatcha mean by a sinker slider ? I'm always up for something new ; )

thanks
-Jim-

 

a sinker slide is a plastic piece that your line feeds through and a oversized swivel attached to it. you can open n close the swivel to change the sinkerts at random.

 

here are what a sinker slide is.

View attachment 36691

View attachment 36692 [/ATTACH]pics may take a min. to download. The slider attaches to line, clip attaches to slider n then sinker ayyaches to other side if clip

 

I make mine i like a no roll 5oz to a 2oz in the river try to stay away from egg sinkers because our live bait makes them roll to easy

 

Bill, you might want to think about getting set up to pour your own sinkers. You might get some free lead at one of your local tire shops or you can go to a metal recycle shop and buy some lead. The initial expense of most of your molds will be around $30. You will save a lot of money in the long run. They are easy to make yourself. I used eggs for years and switched to no rolls and like them better. I use 3 oz. no rolls most of the time even in a lake with no current for casting distance. Every sinker style has it's place and is made for a reason, just get set up for what will work for your style of fishing best.

 

Ah, now my brain is on it. Time to start smithin and make my own...oh boy does my wife hate this. I start looking around the house for things to make, it can get pretty messy around here when I'm tearing through draws etc. I guess that's why when something is missing she knows to come hound me, LOL. Thanks for the info guys.

-Jim-

 

The no roll sinker is the best river sinker available, it is a flat sinker with a hole through it just like the egg. You will not snag up nearly as often with this sinker. You should check your local bait shop, they tend to carry a lot of catfish tackle you will not find at Wal-mart. I would much rather support these small businesses than Wal-mart anyway.

 

than the egg sinkers. I always use 2 ounce in the pee dee. If its really kicking I change to 3 ounce. Last week when we caught the cats we switched to 3 ounce sinkers on all our rods.

NOW if I'm fishing stink bait I will throw out to the side of the boat let the current take it back behind the boat. Hardly ever get hung up if I know the area. I like doing it this way because the stink bait kinda chums the water as its moving. If I'm fishing live bait or cut I throw out directly behind the boat.

later..
Ron

 

be careful when you hammer a sinker that the hole doesn't splinter inside. I take old cast nets and cut the leads off of them and make shark leaders with them. I hammer them down. But I have noticed on some sinkers the inside will start to splinter. Now its doesn't matter to me that its splittering cause I'm putting it on weedeater line for my leader. But you don't want to cut your mono line with your sinker when you have a nice one on!oooh:

later..
Ron