Inaccurate "stated" lure weights

[adrenalnjunky]

May have been addressed in other threads, but I can't find much that starts off discussing how far off lure weights can be. 

 

I've been getting back into fishing, and for shiggles, threw one of my crankbaits on a little scale that may not be the best in the world, but it seems to be relatively capable of registering differences into the .01 oz range. 

 

I've been buying swim jigs this week, and to start off, I've been buying everything in 3/8oz size (.375oz), figuring it is a good middle ground weight, since I plan to be adding trailers like a paca chunk, rage craw, or 3.5" grub here and there. 

 

Picked up a Pair of Strike King 3/8 Tour Grade swim jigs - both weigh .45oz out of the box.  I also got a BooYah swim-n-jig that weighed in at .6oz.  At that point you're getting almost double what the 3/8oz "advertised" weight is. Throw on a 3.7" Lil dipper as a trailer, and that overall combo could be a lot heavier than what you thought you were throwing.

 

Similar result from a 3/8oz KVD series spinnerbait I recently bought - .60oz on the scale. 

 

Are the manufacturers starting off with the weight of the jig head, and not adding in the weight of skirts, or rattle or whatever?

 

So is this really a concern?  All of my MH/F rods are manufacturer rated up the 3/4oz, and I know those aren't based on any true standard, but I'm guessing moving up to 1/2oz jigs might start getting closer to the 1oz range, if I see the same variation.  

 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Baits are sold by the weight of the lead head not total weight. Skirts, wires, blades, trailers all add to that. 

[Team9nine]

Like many other things in fishing, there is no standard in this regard. I've weighed enough baits in my day to know that some are heavier, some are lighter, and some are actually the same as stated. This is pretty much the case no matter which classification of lures you look at. So take the printed packaging with a grain of salt. Its likely close, but also likely a little off.

 

-T9

[new2BC4bass]

25 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Like many other things in fishing, there is no standard in this regard. I've weighed enough baits in my day to know that some are heavier, some are lighter, and some are actually the same as stated. This is pretty much the case no matter which classification of lures you look at. So take the printed packaging with a grain of salt. Its likely close, but also likely a little off.

 

-T9

 

You mean to tell me a 3/8 oz. crankbait could weigh more............or less?  I'm well aware that lures like jigs and spinnerbaits weigh more than listed, but I thought crankbaits would be very close to listed weight.  Here I thought my 3/16 oz. Shad Raps were a true indication of how light I can go with several combos.  Now I have to find my powder scale.  

[12poundbass]

It's like burger joints.... Double quarter pounder (weight before cooking) fine print. Xxx brand jig weight before add ons. Lol didn't know but makes sense everything is fine print now!!! Thanks for the info!

[adrenalnjunky]

7 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

 

You mean to tell me a 3/8 oz. crankbait could weigh more............or less?  I'm well aware that lures like jigs and spinnerbaits weigh more than listed, but I thought crankbaits would be very close to listed weight.  Here I thought my 3/16 oz. Shad Raps were a true indication of how light I can go with several combos.  Now I have to find my powder scale.  

 

I think my crankbaits were pretty close.  It was mostly the jigs and spinnerbaits that were messing with my head. 

 

I just got an order of a few random crank baits in - I can throw them all on the scale to see how true they are. 

[RoLo]

 

I have a powder scale from my reloading days, so I know the 'actual' weight of anything I bother to weigh.

This I can tell you, lure weights are rarely accurate, and the same is true of lure lengths.

For example, some weighted hooks state only the added weight, while others state the overall weight.

 

Roger

 

 

 

[long island basser]

In my experience, my weighing of hard baits have been pretty much spot on.

With baits like spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, jigs etc the listed weight on the package will be less then actual total weight, for reasons that DVT did mention.

[adrenalnjunky]

Crankbaits:

 

Berkley Wild Thang 8.5 (1/2oz stated) = .55oz

 

Berkley Wild Thang 6.5 (3/8 stated) = .40oz

 

Livingston Tournament Primetyme 2.0 (1/2 stated) = .55oz

 

Strike King Redeye Shad(1/2 stated) = .55oz

[jbrew73]

29 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

 

You mean to tell me a 3/8 oz. crankbait could weigh more............or less?  I'm well aware that lures like jigs and spinnerbaits weigh more than listed, but I thought crankbaits would be very close to listed weight.  Here I thought my 3/16 oz. Shad Raps were a true indication of how light I can go with several combos.  Now I have to find my powder scale.  

i have found most crankbaits weights are without hooks and split rings.

[Raul]

My man, a double willowleaf bladed 1/2 oz spinnerbait weights a hair shy of an ounce.

[fishballer06]

12 hours ago, new2BC4bass said:

 

You mean to tell me a 3/8 oz. crankbait could weigh more............or less? 

 

Most crankbaits are weighed without hooks and split rings. So those will add on a marginal weight difference. 

[Jeff H]

  Shouldn't this be in the tackle forum?

[j bab]

Interesting point. I see how that could be problematic, especially if you're new to fishing and you're trying to match lure weights to rod ratings. You could be wayy off if you add a decent sized trailer to a jig, plastic is deceptively heavy. All that being said, there's no need to stick super close to rod ratings, just use whatever works in the situation  

[RoLo]

If you're comparing lure weight against the weight range specified on your rod,

drop the whole lure on a postal scale, because the rod doesn't care where the weight comes from.

 

For instance, a so-called "Weightless" Senko (more accurately known as an 'unweighted' Senko)

weighs 3/8 oz 'without' any weight, and 'without' a hook.

Who said you need a spinning outfit to cast an unweighted Senko?  

 

Roger

[WIGuide]

 Holy crap! You mean that 1/2 oz crankbait I've been throwing is really 5/100 of an ounce heavier than I thought it was? I better get a beefier rod, I'm amazed mine didn't snap already. 

 

Guys...winter is over, go fishing! While you're out there if a bait you bought is listed at 3/8 oz throw it on a rod with a rating that 3/8 falls into and I promise you'll be just fine...unless you're throwing a trailer that's made of pure lead. 

[Jaderose]

4 minutes ago, WIGuide said:

 Holy crap! You mean that 1/2 oz crankbait I've been throwing is really 5/100 of an ounce heavier than I thought it was? I better get a beefier rod, I'm amazed mine didn't snap already. 

 

Guys...winter is over, go fishing! While you're out there if a bait you bought is listed at 3/8 oz throw it on a rod with a rating that 3/8 falls into and I promise you'll be just fine...unless you're throwing a trailer that's made of pure lead. 

 

This........good lord.  I couldn't possibly care any less if my ratltrap doesn't weigh exactly 1/2 oz.

[smalljaw67]

With jigs and baits like that the weight is the head without the hook, paint, and skirting material or any other add-ons like eyes. Crankbaits are usually close, the weight is normally just the body before the lip, and hardware and are sometimes off because the baits are mostly made in countries where the metric system is used and conversion rates aren't exact so a lot of rounding up and down is common. The nice thing about crankbaits is they are normally close, usually within 1/16oz while jigs and spinnerbaits are often over 1/8oz and can be over 1/4oz.

[Jeff H]

14 hours ago, Jaderose said:

 

This........good lord.  I couldn't possibly care any less if my ratltrap doesn't weigh exactly 1/2 oz.

Exactly...trivial bs. Next?