Types of Fishing Sinkers and What They’re Best Used For

If you’re not fishing on the surface with poppers, flies, or other floating lures, you’ll most definitely need at least one type of sinker to drive your bait or lure to the bottom. They’re typically made of lead, but due to environmental and health concerns, fishing tackle manufacturers have started using other metals or alloys.

Sinkers come in many shapes and styles. That’s because a certain type of environment or a certain type of bait may call for a specific type of sinker. In this post, we’re going to cover all sinker types and point out their purpose.

Split-Shot

This type of sinker consists of a spherical lead pellet with a large cut/groove in the middle. In order to attach them to your rig, you’ll have to pass the fishing line through the groove and pinch it tight into position. These sinkers are largely used on bobber rigs, to balance the bobber and to keep the fishing line straight, or on rigs that require just a little extra weight.

On a side note here, whatever you do, use a pair of pliers for attaching these to the line; don’t use your teeth. Lead is toxic.

Drop-shot

These are ball-shaped, bell-shaped, tear-shaped, or even cylindrical sinkers, featuring a looped wire attachment to their top section to which you attach the line. They’re usually attached at the end of the fishing line, with the hooks above it, on rigs like the paternoster.

Coin

These are basically drop-shot sinkers with a circular shape, a wire loop on one side for attaching the line, and a thicker perimeter than the middle area. This allows them to lay flat on the bottom preventing them to roll or tumble in the current. They’re best used on sandy or gravelly bottoms. They’re also available without a wire insert having a simple hole for the line attachment instead.

Ball

As the term suggests, these are ball-shaped sinkers featuring a hole through the middle for the line to pass. They’re typically used above the hook(s), allowing the line to move freely through it. Rigs that use ball sinkers have a stopper between the sinker and the hook, and sometimes one above the sinker as well, to stop it from gliding too high on the line. Thus, when the fish takes the bait, they’ll pull the line without being hindered too much by the weight of the sinker. Also, they’re best used in underwater environments with a lot of snags as a sphere is less likely to get stuck on something.

Egg

These work in a similar way to ball sinkers, but they’re elliptical-shaped. This allows them to move easier over a gravelly bottom. Therefore, they’re best used when fishing in currents, in environments without too many snags, and with a rather uniform gravelly, rocky, or sandy bottom.

Bullet

Similar to spherical or egg-shaped sinkers, these have a median hole for the fishing line to pass through. However, due to their bullet shape, they’re used for different purposes. These sinkers are typically used when fishing with soft plastics like curly-tailed worms or finesse worms. Their position on the line is right above the hook, with a stopper above, to prevent it from sliding too high on the line. The head of the worm conveniently enters the concave bottom section of the sinker completing the lure and rendering it to look like a small snake.

Pyramid

As the term suggests, these sinkers have a pyramid shape featuring a wire loop at the base of the pyramid where you attach the line, and a pointy tip. They’re used in waters with soft bottoms like sand or mud. Their shape allows them to sink very quickly as they “cut” through the water, and pierce the bottom anchoring the line down.

Bank

Bank sinkers are tear-shaped, with a tapered end featuring a hole through it for attaching the line. They’re typically used with a sinker slide for easily changing the weight. Many anglers use them when drifting the bait above the bottom with the weight dragging on the bottom. Their shape prevents them from snagging. They can also be attached on the line above the hooks with a split shot or a swivel as a stopper between it and the terminal tackle.

Walking

Walking sinkers are technically bank sinkers but they are slightly curved near the line hole. They were devised for slow trolling and used in rigs with natural baits for bass and walleye. Some have the bottom end reminding of the shape of a gummy bear, with two small “feet”, while their movement on the bottom of the lake reminds of walking, thus the term.

Surf

These are also called Sputnik sinkers as their shape reminds of the Sputnik 1 artificial satellite. This type of sinker has several bits of wire coming out of it which enable it to act as an anchor for the fishing line thrown in the surf. They also typically have a longer wire loop for attaching the line, to prevent it from tangling around the anchoring wires.

Rubber-cored

These sinkers are typically football-shaped featuring a groove throughout their midsection. The groove shelters a piece of rubber with two twisting tabs visible one on each end of the sinker. Thus, instead of pinching these sinkers on the line, as you would normally do with a split-shot, you simply pass the line through the groove and twist the rubber band from its tabs in order to secure the sinker on the line. This offers the advantage of quickly swapping sinkers, or relocating them with ease on the line.

Hook weights

These are technically split-shot sinkers but instead of placing them on the fishing line, they’re meant to be attached to the hooks. They’re either elliptical-shaped or cylindrical with rounded edges. They attach to the shank of the hook, and they’re typically used on hooks with a long shank, like Aberdeen hooks. Evidently, they’re meant for adding stability and weight to light baits in order to limit their movement into the current or to keep them on the bottom.