You may have asked yourself why you would pay more for tungsten or brass fishing weights and jig heads, over traditional lead. I’ll try and summarise the benefits…
Both Tungsten and Brass are denser, harder materials compared to relatively soft, lead. This attribute offers the lure angler some serious benefits that are worth considering.
– Increased Feel – with a conductive mainline like braid or fluorocarbon, the more dense weight material is able to transmit better ‘bottom contact’ giving the angler greater feedback about where their lure is placed and the structure of the bottom
– Smaller Size – more dense materials pack more weight into a smaller area. This basically means you can use smaller, neater, more finely balanced and less obtrusive weights and jigheads for the required wight you need. This attribute has a greater impact at the lower end of the scale, with items such as nail sinkers opening up rigging options that wouldn’t be possible with lead
– Sound – harder materials resonate more sound on contact with some other materials. Tapping a Tungsten jig on a granite or flint bottom, or a hollow tree stump can transmit quite a bit of noise. In some circumstances this may draw in fish that may not have located the lure by sight alone
– Non-toxic – lead is of course toxic. Tungsten and brass are not. There are benefits to marine and aquatic life
– Robust – it stands to reason that a harder material is tougher and able to withstand more abuse before coming misshaped. Useful if you spend time casting rigs and lures at docks and barnacle covered rocks, etc
The core downsides to both Tungsten and Brass are;
– Cost – Tungsten and to a lesser extent, Brass are both more costly than lead
– Design Limitations – Tungsten and Brass weights are generally simpler in design due to the limitations of manufacturing the harder materials