You’ll catch more fish if you choose the right sinker size.
If you fish too heavy, fish will feel the weight and drop the bait before they’re hooked.
Too light and you won’t be on the bottom.
It’s critical to choose the right sinker size and get your bait on the bottom when fishing for foragers like bream and fingermark.
This is not something that you just set and forget.
It’s something that needs to be adjusted throughout your fishing day because there are several factors that interact with sinker size.
- Tidal movement is the main one
- Size and weight of your bait
- Depth of water
- Line and leader thickness.
The key is to really NOTICE what your line is doing and change up your sinker size accordingly.
First up – what type of sinker?
Typically for estuary work a ball or bean is used on a running rig however a dropper lead is mostly used on a paternoster or dropper rig.
A 1,2,3 or 4 size will do for most applications.
However as the run picks up and you go deeper, sinkers of several kilos can be used. Such is the case for deep dropping.
Although in many instances, more important than the type is the sinker size!
What to look for when choosing sinker size.
Observation is the key to all things fishing!
So I regularly drum into my fish smarter students that the key to fishing success is observation.
Because unless you notice, you won’t be able to fix it!
First up, notice how quickly the line runs off your spool.
This will give you a good indication of how your terminal tackle is being affected by the current.
Probably the easiest way to demonstrate how to choose the right sinker size is on the video below.
Change it up, don’t just set and forget.
People often ask me how I catch so many big fish and in many cases, it just comes down to using the right gear at the right time.
Hence I change lures, sinkers, rigs etc regularly.
And before I did this professionally (many moons ago) I used to practice practice practice to tie my knots Fast and Tight.
However, when fishing for a living you need to minimize every second baits and lures are out of the water yet always ensuring you are in the target zone.
For me, fishing requires constant observation and changing things up to suit ever-changing conditions.
The same trial and error are sometimes required to choose the right sinker size.
Plus top Sounder Skills to make sure you’re fishing on the fish in the first place!
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