my worm weights are getting tiny as i go.

[Darth-Baiter]

how do you choose a worm weight?

 

i was cleaning my garage and i found a baggie of 3/8oz (maybe 1/2oz)worm sinkers.  they were garden variety lead weights.  in my old tackle box i had when i was fishing Elephant Butte in NM.  the weights are HUGE looking.  i bought them when i was in my early 20's i bet.  they look like 30.06 bullets.  haha.

 

i think back in the day i couldnt cast lighter baits?  dunno.  or i had light worms?  i dont think i go over 1/4 very often anymore.  and that is for the tidal currents i find in the California Delta.  maybe now i feel i have more time to let things sink slower?  i actually used one of the old heavyweights to drag a senko thru a layer of duckweed.  it felt so heavy to cast out.  

 

when do you all use heavier weights?  fast currents?  deep deep waters?  pitching heavy cover i suppose, huh?

[MN Fisher]

Just now, Darth-Baiter said:

i was cleaning my garage and i found a baggie of 3/8oz worm sinkers.  they were garden variety lead weights.  in my old tackle box i had when i was fishing Elephant Butte in NM.  the weights are HUGE looking.  i bought them when i was in my early 20's i bet.  they look like 30.06 bullets.  haha.

I know what you mean - I used steel weights before I got hooked on tungsten...comparing the size is unreal...these are both 1/4oz, steel on the left of course.

 

1 minute ago, Darth-Baiter said:

when do you all use heavier weights?  fast currents?  deep deep waters?

I don't fish currents...well not river currents anyway, 'Tonka does have a modest current running from west (stream inlets) to east (dam that starts the Minnehaha Creek).

 

Clear bottom, light as I can go, as weeds get thicker the weight gets heavier...though I only go to 3/4 an 1oz when pitching into heavy cover.

 

Deeper presentations up the weight too...just to get it to the bottom faster.

[Choporoz]

Same boat.  Usually only windy days now when I go over 1/4.  Depth doesn't matter to me nearly as much as wind or current....or combo wind/current.  Cast 1/8 on a windy day on an outgoing or incoming tide and you likely have no idea where your bait contacts bottom....or how many yards of slack are between you and your lure.

 

  Patience, feel, experience, sensitive rods, have all contributed to greater success working lighter weights through complex cover.

 

  If I want to actually drag bottom and be assured of constant contact, I'll probably have a swing jig,  Jika or jig vice a Texas rig.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

You needed some weight to get and keep heavy mono down, especially in current. 

[Darth-Baiter]

ahhh...Mono line.  i forgot about that.  

[Mike L]

I’ll use a 1 1/2 oz to 1/8 oz depending on depth and cover 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[T-Billy]

I can't remember the last time I went over 1/4 with a worm. Usually 1/8 or 3/16. If wind or current require something heavier, I'll switch to a trigged creature or a jig.

[Catt]

46 minutes ago, Mike L said:

I’ll use a 1 1/2 oz to 1/8 oz depending on depth and cover 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

I vary slightly, 1/8-1.5 oz.

[Mike L]

19 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

I vary slightly, 1/8-1.5 oz.

We’re the same I just wrote it different 

?

 

 

 

 

Mike

[CrashVector]

I use 1/8 and 1/16 the most.

[Darth-Baiter]

one of my fishing buddies once said, "fishing weights are the only reason he knows fractions".  then he got something wrong.  we laughed at him the whole day.  

[WRB]

Worm/creature size, wind, cover, current, line diameter all play are part in T-rig bullet weight choice. 

Like most anglers I prefer 3/16 oz 90% of the time fishing out rocky deep structured lakes to around 20’ deep. When the bass go deeper the weights get heavier to get down faster and keep in contact with what’s is going on.

The size of the weight between 1/8, 1/16 and a 1/4 oz hasn’t been an issue. Tungsten smaller size good for weights 3/8 oz.  to 3/4 oz, about the heaviest I use unless it’s a punch rig.

I learned to T-rig using a 3/16 oz lead bullet weight in the 60’s, still my favorite except changed to painted brass n glass in the 90’s to this this day.

Tom

[river-rat]

 

Other than punching mats, I'll use heavier weights when I'm trying to generate a reaction strike.

 

[GreenPig]

90% of the time I fish 1/8 & 3/16. I move up to 1/4 & 3/8 for deeper water.

[scaleface]

I do  a lot of pitching into cover  with a 5/16th oz . Would like to go smaller , I just cant present the worm to the fish very well with lighter weights . Thats all right though , I've been slaying them this summer . The worm bite has been hot this year . 

[Bankbeater]

It will depend on the wind and how deep I am fishing. I use 1/8, 3/16, and 1/4 most of the time unless I am punching mats.

[papajoe222]

I use lighter weights for finesse presentations. For worm, or creature baits, I use a heavy enough weight to maintain contact with the bottom.  The exception being my punch rigs, which get a heavy enough weight to get through the vegetation.

[RDB]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Worm/creature size, wind, cover, current, line diameter all play are part in T-rig bullet weight choice. 

^^^agree^^^
Add in fall rate which @riverat referred to.  

[GRiver]

14 hours ago, CrashVector said:

I use 1/8 and 1/16 the most.

I use as little as I have too, 1/4 on occasion. Any thing above that I switch to jigs.

[Gorris317]

I would throw 3/8 when I first started using a baitcaster to get the lure "out there". As I got better I have lowered the weight. I only carry 1/4 and 1/8 anymore. I never associated my weights with fall speed and always associated it with distance. Now I use weights based on how I want the presentation. 

[Deleted account]

Like most of my fishing, I'm fishing the extremes, either really light, or really heavy, adjusting for conditions, ROF, and presentation as dictated by the fish on a given day.

[hunterPRO1]

1/8-3/8 cover 95% of my fishing. 1/2-1oz for flipping heavy grass.

 

I'm a dinosaur, still using lead weight and mono line.