Tungsten Jigs?? Why??

[Slipperys]

I have heard that you HAVE to use tungsten jigs and that they are so much better than lead jigs.  How come?  Please give me some details on what makes a tungsten jig a tungsten jig?

[DamYankee]

heavier weight, smaller body size; gets down to strike zone to fish quicker ; can feel action of jig as well as bite better

[team dryden]

tungsten is heavier than lead so a jig of equal ( in lenth and width) size of lead will weigh more. this has two adavantges. first you can feel better with an equal size jig and you  can make a jig that weighs the same as yours lead jig  but is a lot smaller. i don't use tunsten because there so costly. a tungsten jig cost up to two or three times that of a lead jig. but like any other tool i think the have a place.

[74redone]

 i had never tried these jigs till a month ago. Now they are the only thing I will use. They drop down to 25FOW in seconds. You can feel the slightest nibble on the end of your line. They are pricey,but to me they are worth every penny. The guy I fish with is pretty cheap,but after fishing 1 day with me and the Wolfram jigs from Your Bobbers Down, he was calling them and ordering a set. Wolfram is another name for Tungsten. They will cost you around $2.69 a jig. But they are worth it IMO! Go online and order a few of them. Once you use them you will know what I'm talking about.
 Good Luck!
  Matt

[MN Bassfisher]

I'll never leave home without one rigged up to my rods. I haven't used a non tungsten jig since I tried them out. I've fished suspended crappies in up to 40-45ft of water and the tungsten gets down there SO MUCH quicker than a tear drop or other jigs. I hate when the bite is on and it takes you like a minute to drop down there, hoping that the fish stay put! Try out a fiskas or skandia, and you'll love their heaviness.

[gator36x]

aside from the weight increase tungsten is the replacement as more states r prohibiting the use of lead for enviromental reasons.

[mr.bartender]

these type of jigs came to light during an international fishing tournament where th U.S. got wacked! there was a day when guys melted their wedding bands to get jigs that would drop down faster. try that one with your ole lady!!!!

[dtsoutdoors]

i had never tried these jigs till a month ago. Now they are the only thing I will use. They drop down to 25FOW in seconds. You can feel the slightest nibble on the end of your line. They are pricey,but to me they are worth every penny. The guy I fish with is pretty cheap,but after fishing 1 day with me and the Wolfram jigs from Your Bobbers Down, he was calling them and ordering a set. Wolfram is another name for Tungsten. They will cost you around $2.69 a jig. But they are worth it IMO! Go online and order a few of them. Once you use them you will know what I'm talking about.
 Good Luck!
  Matt

I'm with you, Matt. I bought Wolframs last year from the same web site.  Very good jigs. Like DamYankee points out, they have their place. They are not my "go to" first choice for bigger fish, that spot is held by Rapalas. The Wolframs ARE my first choice for 'gills and perch. Tight lines all and enjoy the ice while it's here. Spring (and yak fishin') is on the way!

[Gman64]

Tried them for the first time this year for gills I love them. Have just started fishing trout 40ft down the difference is unreal how much faster you can get down to the fish.

[iceman4667]

heavy , gets back down fast

[Badback]

All the below replies are true statements but one other reason is the fish love them...

[eriksat1]

Maybe I'm wrong but a thought just occurred to me. What about Newtons law of gravity? Is it different in water? If you took a tennis ball and a solid lead ball the exact same shape and size and dropped them from the roof of a 20 ft building they would both hit ground at the same time, so why would a different weight jig drop faster than another if they were both the exact same shape and size? I can see that because of water resistance that a smaller jig would drop faster, but if they are the exact same shape and size? I know the heaver weight will give you better feel of the jig, but will it make it drop faster?

[fishafrey]

The heavier tungsten overcomes the force of friction much grater than a lighter jig. Friction of not only the jig but also pulling all that line through the water.

[smontague]

Aside from the obvious weight to size gains, some places have a ban on lead tackle too.

[michlw39]

I haven't caught any more or any less fish on Tungsten jigs versus "cheap" jigs--but there is quite a difference in "speed" going down the hole...that can be a big factor when the bite is hot and heavy. Are they worth $2-$3 a pop? Depends on you, I guess.

[markrazzy]

One of newton's laws is F(force) = Mass x Acceleration.  Two objects of the same mass will fall at the same speed.  Mass is more or less weight.  Therefore using two jigs that weigh the same will fall at the same rate.  However, since tungsten is heavier, you can use a smaller jig to get the same mass, or a same size jig to have a larger mass, thus falling faster. 

[slipperybob]

A more neutral boyant lure has always outproduced the heavier weight lures for me.  It just depends on personal style of fishing.

[eriksat1]

One of newton's laws is F(force) = Mass x Acceleration.  Two objects of the same mass will fall at the same speed.  Mass is more or less weight.  Therefore using two jigs that weigh the same will fall at the same rate.  However, since tungsten is heavier, you can use a smaller jig to get the same mass, or a same size jig to have a larger mass, thus falling faster. 

 If you were in a vacuum a bowling ball and a feather dropped from the same height would hit the ground at the same time. The only difference is the resistance of air or in this case water, but if the 2 objects were exactly the same size and shape, the weight will not make one fall faster than the other, maybe I was thinking of Galileo not Newton.
"Galileo Galilei is reported (see addendum) to have dropped a ten-pound weight and a one-pound weight off the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and proved that both fall at the same speed. Of course, a more general principle was being demonstrated, the fact that objects of any weight fall at the same speed (with the same acceleration, actually).

Air resistance was merely a small complication which could be ignored. In the absence of air (in a vacuum), the feather falls at the same speed as a ten-pound weight. Astronauts on the moon performed this experiment, and the feather fell at the same rate as a metal weight. Actually, that experiment has been performed thousands of times, by students, in partial vacuums here on earth.

[icefishingNH]

heavier weight, smaller body size; gets down to strike zone to fish quicker ; can feel action of jig as well as bite better

 

[tommy-n]

All I have learned from this thread is who pay's attention to detail and who does not. You can do things with tunsten jigs you can't do with others(of course speaking of jigs the same size)

You can pound a tungsten jig tighter and harder than lead. The difference is like puff,puff,puff compared to tonk,tonk,tonk. Just because it falls faster does not mean you can't 'Fish it down to the fish"

I carry at least 400 tear drops with me every time out. I have only strayed from my tungsten box two or three times all season. I liked it better 10 years ago when hardly anyone else had them At least here in the states.

[eriksat1]

For the record I never said I didn't like Wolfram, I have several and fish with them all the time. I was just thinking people all the time saying they fall faster, get them down to the fish faster. The only reason is because ounce for once wolfram is smaller so a 1/16th oz lead jig is almost twice the size as a 1/16th oz. wolfram jig, that is the only reason they drop down faster, smaller size less resistance, for the same weight.

[Fishrmn]

Archimedes principle.  Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.     Buoyancy = weight of displaced fluid.

Archimedes' principle does not consider the surface tension (capillarity) acting on the body.[4]

The weight of the displaced fluid is directly proportional to the volume of the displaced fluid (if the surrounding fluid is of uniform density). In simple terms, the principle states that the buoyant force on an object is going to be equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object, or the density of the fluid multiplied by the submerged volume times the gravitational constant, g. Thus, among completely submerged objects with equal masses, objects with greater volume have greater buoyancy.

Suppose a rock's weight is measured as 10 newtons when suspended by a string in a vacuum with gravity acting upon it. Suppose that when the rock is lowered into water, it displaces water of weight 3 newtons. The force it then exerts on the string from which it hangs would be 10 newtons minus the 3 newtons of buoyant force: 10 − 3 = 7 newtons. Buoyancy reduces the apparent weight of objects that have sunk completely to the sea floor. It is generally easier to lift an object up through the water than it is to pull it out of the water.

Fishrmn

[Sullymon]

For the record I never said I didn't like Wolfram, I have several and fish with them all the time. I was just thinking people all the time saying they fall faster, get them down to the fish faster. The only reason is because ounce for once wolfram is smaller so a 1/16th oz lead jig is almost twice the size as a 1/16th oz. wolfram jig, that is the only reason they drop down faster, smaller size less resistance, for the same weight.

Yes, a tungsten jig of the same weight as a lead one will fall faster, because it will be smaller, therefore having less water resistance. True that!

[cagetrapper]

Much Heavier Jigs. I usually had to put a Sinker on my line to get the teardrop down. Not anymore. Just drop it in, no matter HOW Small it is, it sinks QUICK.
Now, I don't have fishing flying up to my sinker to check out the little black blob on my line. They tend to stay by the teardrop I have on my line.

Cost for each teardrop is costly if you go to a Bait Shop. But, I got mine for $.59 cents...

I did buy over $100.00 of these and now that's all I use.

Stan