Different types of sinkers and how to use them.

by Gary Brown on 28 Oct 2013 The one most important rule you need to remember is to use a sinker that is as light as you can use for the type of fishing you are carrying out and where you are doing it.

There are many different situations that we will come across when fishing off the beach or the rocks, and it is these different situations that we need to adjust our sinker size and shape to get the optimum out of our fishing. Most newcomers and old timers will place too much importance on the need to use a heavy sinker to get the casting distance.

Even though there are a number of different types of sinkers available on the market now days I find that I along with many other anglers around Australia will only need to use a few of them.

This may be so if you are targeting mulloway off a beach and the gutter is a fair way out, or you may be chasing snapper off the rocks and the sandy and to where you have got to cast to may be forty or so metres off the rocks. In these cases I will use a snapper or star sinker.

But if I was chasing bream or drummer off the rocks I will assess the conditions that I am going to fish in and I may start with a number one ball sinker. If it is too light for the conditions I will change up to the next size and if I find that I am getting continually snagged I will go back down a size. It may mean that I have no weight at all and use the bait as the weight. For example I may use unweighted ganged pilchards for tailor or salmon or unweighted abalone gut when chasing drummer or bream.

1.Ball
The ball sinker has a small hole through the centre of the diameter of the sinker. The line is passed through this hole and the sinker is allowed to run freely up and down the line. I will use a ball sinker directly down onto the hook as it will not give me a belly in the line and it allows me to have a much better contact to the bite of the fish. The sizes will vary from 2 to 76 grams.

When fishing from the beach I will sometimes have the ball sinker run down onto a swivel. From the swivel to the hook will be a leader of varying length. This ball sinker will slightly bury itself into the sand allowing the bait to move around in the current.

2.Star
Much the same as the spoon and snapper sinker, but I find that it will tend to hold onto the bottom when fishing off the beach when there is a bit of swell or sideways current. Available in weights of 28 to 170 grams.

3.Wire sinkers
They can come in a variety of shape. Most of the ones I have seen look like a snapper sinker with bits of wirer hanging out of the bottom. Great for anchoring your bait in the one position.

4.Bean
The bean is available in weights of 4 to 85 grams and can be substituted for a ball sinker, with the exception of rock fishing.

5.Bar Beach
I think that what these are called. Great sinker to use off the beach and in fast flowing estuaries and rivers where you need to anchor the bait. The usually range from 40 to 80 grams.

6.Snapper
Was initially used by anglers who fish over offshore reefs. I will use this in the same way that I use a spoon sinker. The only difference between the two is that I can get much more distance when using the snapper sinker. When fishing for whiting off the beach I will prefer to use a snapper sinker on a paternoster rig as I get less tangles and line twist that using a running sinker down onto a swivel and a leader. I have used them in sizes from 50 grams to one kilo.

7.Helmet
The Helmet sinker is primarily used for beach fishing, but can also be used when fishing off the rocks where you may have to cast to where there is and sandy bottom. It has two interesting features. The longer the separate trace to which the sinker is attached, the larger the bait it will anchor. The other feature is that its broad end should face away from the direction of the tide: that is, if the tide is rising, the flat end should be towards the main line. They usually range from 40 to 200 grams.

8.Channel
Also known as the ‘Pickers Doom’, the channel is usually available in 7 to 112 grams. I will tend to use this type of sinker in those fast running estuaries and rivers, as the sinker will lay flat on the bottom while at the same time allowing the line to run easily through the large hole in the top. When rigging the sinker I will always have it running down onto a plastic bead, that into sits onto of the swivel. This will do two things; the plastic bead acts as a cushion and it will also stop the swivel running straight through the large hole in the sinker.

9.Spoon
This used to be one of the most used sinkers by anglers who fish off the rocks. I have found that over the years the snapper sinker is up there with the spoon sinker. The spoon sinker is designed so that you can lower your rod tip down to the water’s surface while at the same time winding in the slack line. Once this has been done you can rapidly in one good lift pull the sinker off the bottom. The spoon shape of the sinker will force it to rise off the bottom. Once up you will need to wind it at a steady pace. They tend to range in size from 30 to 90 grams.

10.Barrel
Often called the torpedo because of its shape and is usually available is sizes from 3 to 120 grams. It is used as a free running sinker in estuaries or rivers when chasing whiting, bream and flathead. This is also a good sinker to use when you are drifting over a sandy flat where there are small amounts of ribbon weed. The narrow shape of the sinker will allow it to move easily through the weed. Before I got a down rigger I use to use a barrel sinker in behind a swivel to get my bait down to the correct depth.

11.Spit shot
A spit shot is a sinker that has a cut halfway through its diameter. The line is put into this cut and then the sinker is crimped onto the line. The split shot can be used as a very light weight when fishing for baitfish, bream, trevally and drummer. It is also used when float fishing for garfish, mullet and luderick. Usually available from about ½ to 20 grams.