COLUMN : THE TINKERER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
If it ’ s creative , national award-winning writer Sean Ostruszka is all about it . He combines mad ingenuity with 20 years of knowledge and experience in the fishing business to design lures for professional anglers and top brands in the bass industry . the weighting game
Subtle shifts in weight can make big differences in bait performance
I f I mention weight , what comes to mind ?
First might be the dreaded number on your scale ( apologies !). So , I ’ ll specify . What do you think about weight in terms of fishing ?
More than likely , you picture the extraordinarily heavy box of lead and tungsten you bring along any time you go fishing : your bullet weights , drop-shot weights , nail weights and various cousins , all coming in a variety of weight increments and materials .
Yet , while we often think about and put a lot of emphasis on actual weights , there ’ s another weight / fishing connection that can often get overlooked . It ’ s one I was reminded of the other day . I was tossing around the Berkley Nessie 9 , playing with cadences and seeing how I could get it to dance , glide and swim . I was impressed , but being the tinkerer at heart that I am , I wanted to see if I could get it to do more . So , I initially tried inserting nail weights . Then , I beefed up the hook , replacing the stock hook and swivel with an O-ring and giant musky hook .
Now THAT made a difference ! Both good and bad .
The good : The added weight of the beefier hook not only allowed the bait to get deeper , but also gave me even more control over the action , acting as a better keel . However , while I lined up the hook size to still perfectly fit in the belly slot of the lure , the keeper that comes on the Nessie didn ’ t really work with the bigger hook . Thus , every so often , the hook would pop out of the belly slot during the cast or retrieve , and the action would go from “ my-god-this-thing-looksinsanely-real ” to “ my-god-a-pinecone-has-moreaction .”
26 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | APRIL-MAY 2024