With much ado about lead and the environment in recent years and a proposed lead ban for fishing tackle, panic ran through the fishing industry to hastily develop more environmentally friendly weight options. Brass, tin, bismuth, Ultra Steel, and various other alloys and concoctions now are available in limited (and more expensive) sinker selections, though generally less dense, requiring larger, bulkier shapes to achieve equal sinking power. And no one knows for sure if they are indeed any better than lead for the environment. But until legal mandate dictates, anglers likely will remain reluctant to let go of traditional lead sinkers, particularly walleye anglers who need lead to take livebaits, jigs, spoons, and spinners down into the fish zone and keep ‘em there. Without clear and documented evidence linking lead sinkers to aquatic environmental chaos, the dense efficiency and cost effectiveness of lead weights never will go out of style.
Slipsinkers Give ‘Em the Slip—Slipsinkers are the heart of livebait rigging presentations, weighting, and sending baited rigs to the bottom for drifting or trolling, enabling feeding line to finicky biters. Slide the sinker on the line, then use a barrel swivel, split shot, or bobber stop to hold it a set distance above your hook, bait, or lure. When a fish strikes, release tension; the line slides backward through a hole in the sinker, and the fish feels no resistance until you set the hook.
Northland Fishing Tackle, Lindy-Little Joe, Let m Run, Quick Change, Walleye Angler, and Cabela’s all manufacture or sell some form of walking slipsinker designed to stand up under tension and skip over rocks. Popular sizes include 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 ounce, sometimes 1/8 ounce for the shallows or 3/4 ounce for deep water, in either plain lead or fluorescent finishes. Hot colors and easy on-off rigging to change sinker weight or color without retying highlight recent innovative models.
Egg sinkers are good alternatives to walking sinkers and are available in a wider range of sizes. Magnum eggs excel for drifting or trolling in deep water, strong wind, or current. Smaller eggs are great for casting and for letting the rig sit stationary while the bait wriggles to tempt fish, then retrieving a few inches before repeating. Bullet sinkers—primarily used for Texas-rigging plastic worms for bass—also are excellent for livebait rigging along or through sparse weeds or wood snags. Some even rattle, potentially adding a bit of attraction.
For Whom the Bell Trolls—Bell sinkers, bass casting sinkers, drop sinkers, pyramids, and miscellaneous pencil-shaped weights are traditional casting sinkers adapted to trolling and drifting approaches. In most cases, they originated for casting some variation of three-way rig from a riverbank, incorporating enough weight to remain stationary on bottom in current. The same rigs, however, are ideal for drifting or trolling livebait, artificials, or combos of each in strong current or deep water.
On traditional bell sinkers, a wire runs through the weight, ending in a round loop eye for tying line or attaching a snap. Bass casting sinkers feature a molded-in barrel swivel to minimize line twist. Water Gremlin features bell sinkers with plastic quick clips for traditional attachment or to snap over your line and function like a slipsinker. Some have rubber band style attachments designed to break under heavy pull, sacrificing the sinker to snags while retaining the rig.
