Pro Tips Weekly: Ramie Colson Jr.

Bobber stops beat tungsten’s sharp edges

Like a lot of other fishermen, I use tungsten sinkers on my soft-plastics rigs. Because they have such sharp edges, though, I’ve had problems with tungsten sinkers fraying braided lines or even nicking fluorocarbon lines at the knot where the hook is tied on. To remedy that, I thread a small bobber stop on my line between the sinker and where I’m going to tie the knot. That way, the edges of the sinker hole hit against the bobber stop and not the knot. Bobber stops cost a couple of cents apiece and you can find them just about anywhere bait-fishing tackle is sold. — National Guard pro Ramie Colson Jr.