CZ
gets the Lead Out- Go Tungsten
by
Chris Zelenka
As
fisherman we are confronted all the time with fish that want to
eat a 1/4oz Texas rig on one day and then they won’t touch
it the next day, but once you change to a 3/8oz weight its on
fire again. We have been trained to be prepared to change the
weight size while not ever considering the change of appearance
the bait has with a larger weight compared to a smaller weight,
because the rate of fall is often so important. Especially when
you are using a large 1oz or bigger weight punching through the
real heavy vegetation, what this does to the profile of the bait
is make it look unnaturally bulky. If your only using lead weights
for all situations you might be missing some fish that would eat
that same bait with a tungsten weight with the smaller profile,
but with the big bulky lead head in front decides to hesitate
on the strike.
Tungsten
is a much denser material than lead allowing the same weight size
to be much smaller than the same weight size of lead. The good
tungsten weights are painted black with a coating that seems to
help the weight slide through the vegetation easily. Tungsten
truly excels in the heaviest of cover although the smaller size
tungsten weights are great weights, it’s the heavy weights
that really first turned me onto tungsten. The smaller size not
only assists in getting the bait into the strike zones it comes
out of the fish’s mouth easier than a lead weight nearly
double its size. When we set the hook on a fish that eats a large
weight the fish’s mouth can pop wide open and the hook won’t
connect with the fish. The tungsten weights reduces this from
occurring as often because it is not as large, allowing it to
slip through the fish’s grasp, yet getting a solid hook
set. Matching a 5/8 to 1oz sweetbeaver
or smallie sweetbeaver is a proven method for catching big
fish out of the California delta’s nastiest of bass lairs.
Use a big flipping stick spooled up with some braid and start
punching the vegetation, hyacinth, hydrilla, milfoil, matted tules
anything a run of the mill 3/8oz won’t get through and hang
on. Using tungsten for a presentation like this allows us to give
the bass a realistic prey that matches the size of food they are
used too in places they feel comfortable and safe from anglers.
A 1oz lead weight and a regular beaver is a really big profile
that may get their attention, but I have had more success with
the more discrete look of the tungsten beaver combo. Every tournament
you read about down in Florida has someone in the top five flipping
a heavy tungsten weight and a small 3inch
B.B. Crickett
Well
here in the West we have a better alternative a smallie
beaver is a small craw imitation and a proven winner on our
waters. This small bait coupled with a 1oz pentrater is a very
good size match to the craws our bass our constantly ambushing.
There are a bunch of people making Tungsten weights right now,
but this by all means doesn’t mean they are cheap or that
lead is no good. My personal favorite is the
pentrater weights they are carried by a few of the local tackle
shops in the area and are just good weights in all sizes. Tacklewarehouse
is also carrying a few tungsten weights, Lake
Fork Tackle and Kanji
The Tungsten weights are much more expensive, while they are smaller
and more sensitive than lead for most situations they are not
my go to weight, but they are great for specific situations, like
heavy cover or when the fishing is tough and you need to control
the baits profile to make it appear more natural. The tungsten
weights also can break beads so check them every so often because
a broken bead will cut your line in no time, especially when fishing
with braid. To peg tungsten weights I either use a plastic peg-it
or I tie on a black rubber band to my line and cut off the excess,
I don’t like to use toothpicks unless I’m being lazy
and don’t want to magic marker a rubberband. Give them a
try if you want to have a fun day ripping big fish out of cover.
Dan
Mathisen
FishDelta.com
- All Species, All Delta
The
Ultimate Resource For California Delta Fishing
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