Tungsten vs lead

[Crankin4Bass]

21 hours ago, J Francho said:

The whole loon thng makes no sense.  No one can prove to me less loons died after the ban. Maybe no one has caught it yet.  There were a few chain stores selling lead here years after the sale ban, then all of a sudden they disappeared, and there was a sign stating they cannot sell lead under 1 oz. in NY.  I bet someone blew them in.  I wonder if selling is still allowed in Mass, just using it isn't.  Sort the opposite of NY, lol.

I haven't been to a retail store in a while, but when I've asked clerks in stores in Massachusetts, they said they are allowed to sell lead jigs here because you might take them to a state that allows lead. You just can't use them here. Makes no sense to me. They had hundreds of lead jigs just to torture me about the price difference and barely have any tungsten jigs available. I order Keitech jigs online. I would love to buy Bitsy Bug Jigs, but they are lead. That size is great for the smaller fish I catch here. Wish they made them in tungsten.

[J Francho]

I'd like to know how someone would determine that the painted jig you were using is lead.  I mean, you can draw a quick conclusion if you are familiar with jigs, but I'm talking gathering evidence of a crime.  You would have to ruin the jig or weight in order to get a sample and run a test on it.  I'm not handing over five pounds of $6 jigs to be ruined just to prove I was using tungsten.  I think what ever well intentions were behind the law, ended up being implemented by misguided people not familiar with actual lures.  It would have been much more effective to simply ban the sale of lead.  

[PourMyOwn]

23 hours ago, J Francho said:

The whole loon thng makes no sense.  No one can prove to me less loons died after the ban. Maybe no one has caught it yet. 

My question has always been, "Where are the loons in February?" I'm fairly certain they go as far south as they need to to find water that isn't frozen. ALL of those states allow lead. 

[TriStateBassin106]

Tungsten is a much more compact and heavier metal, a 1/4oz tungsten weight is soo much smaller than a lead weight in the same size, obviously if you're new to our sport you're better off with lead for now. It's still effective in bite detection and will save you money, I started using Tungsten this year made by the guys at WOO! Tungsten and I'm sold on em, the sensitivity thing isn't a myth, I've had better bite detection with tungsten and can easily feel what's a rock, grass, or wood underwater. Definitely many times where lead wouldn't have been able to be that sensitive. Plus tungsten is better for the environment! 

[PhishLI]

On 10/14/2020 at 8:22 AM, Crankin4Bass said:

I haven't been to a retail store in a while, but when I've asked clerks in stores in Massachusetts, they said they are allowed to sell lead jigs here because you might take them to a state that allows lead. You just can't use them here. Makes no sense to me. They had hundreds of lead jigs just to torture me about the price difference and barely have any tungsten jigs available. I order Keitech jigs online. I would love to buy Bitsy Bug Jigs, but they are lead. That size is great for the smaller fish I catch here. Wish they made them in tungsten.

Here's an option. Nothing below 1/4oz, but they're small. I like them.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Eco_Pro_Tungsten_Sick_Boy_Swim_Jig_/descpage-EPSB.html

[J Francho]

How does tungsten help with bite detection? 

[MN Fisher]

23 minutes ago, J Francho said:

How does tungsten help with bite detection? 

Ya, the bite is transmitted through the line.

[Catt]

30 minutes ago, J Francho said:

How does tungsten help with bite detection? 

 

 

[moguy1973]

On 10/11/2020 at 7:46 PM, WRB said:

The advantage of tungsten is it isn't considered harmful to the environment.

The disadvantage is cost about 10X more then Lead.

Tungsten is a head heavy metal, lead is soft heavy metal, tungsten is heavier higher density then lead. 

So now we go into the subjective topic of feel. Can anyone feel a tungsten weight feed back better then lead or brass? Sliding bullet weights lead tends to deform creating more line drag and I can feel the bottom better with both brass and tungsten vs lead. Jigs can't tell any difference, tungsten fall faster through the water column because it's heavier.

Good luck,

Tom

PS, Barlows Tackle has a swing football head.

Does it fall faster though?  A 1/4oz lead weight and a 1/4oz tungsten weight both have the same mass, only the latter is smaller because tungsten is more dense.  I wouldn't think that the size difference between the two would cause the lead to fall any slower due any buoyancy differences between them or due to the resistance of water, and if there is any I would think it would be negligible.  Now, take a weight of each material that are the same size, yeah the tungsten will fall faster because it's heaver than the same physical volume of lead.

 

 

As others have said, I think the two main reasons to use tungsten are 1) it's smaller than the same weight of lead, which means it makes your bait look more natural and it comes through cover easier, and 2) it's harder so it transmits better feel of what the weight is in contact with, and with that comes a different sound than a softer material like lead.

[TriStateBassin106]

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

How does tungsten help with bite detection? 

In terms of bite detection line is the number 1 factor but from using tungsten for awhile now I've noticed that the tap tap bites I usually get when dragging stuff on the bottom is much more sensitive than using lead, there's no difference really when the fish bite on the initial fall or start swimming with it but sometimes I can literally feel the fish pecking at it and my line doesn't twitch or bounce, if I was using lead I would've missed fish in those situations. 

[MN Fisher]

15 minutes ago, moguy1973 said:

Now, take a weight of each material that are the same size, yeah the tungsten will fall faster because it's heaver than the same physical volume of lead.

That's not how gravity works - when two items are both of a compact size, both will accelerate at 32ft/sec/sec. Air resistance is negligible for small, compact items like weights - drop both at the same time, and they'll hit the ground at the same time.

 

It's like Galileo's gravity experiment - do it in a vacuum where there's no air resistance and a feather will fall at the same speed as a bowling ball.

[moguy1973]

19 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

That's not how gravity works - when two items are both of a compact size, both will accelerate at 32ft/sec/sec. Air resistance is negligible for small, compact items like weights - drop both at the same time, and they'll hit the ground at the same time.

 

It's like Galileo's gravity experiment - do it in a vacuum where there's no air resistance and a feather will fall at the same speed as a bowling ball.

You're right.  Not sure what I had going through my head at the time I typed that.  Maybe I was thinking if there's a plastic tied onto those weights, the tungsten would fall faster because it overcomes the buoyancy force of the bait more than a similarly sized lead weight.