I use the lead because it is softer and when a fish bites, their teeth sink in to the lead and they hold on to it easier. Sometimes I don't even use a hook because they get their teeth stuck in the lead.

Yeah I'm with ya and agree on everything you said but you lost me with this part...."slicker plus smaller weight means the weight slips through the fish's lips easier so you don't have the use you sometimes have of a fish biting down on a led sinker and dramatically reducing the power of transferred in your hook set".

Met a guy at the Southern Open on Toho he got his from
Jig Shack.

Take a pair of pliers... go grab a 1/2 ounce lead weight on a trig and have your buddy set the hook from 20 yards out...

then do the same thing with a tungsten...

you'll understand immediately...

That slick hard deal keeps their little tiny teeth from "grabbing" the weight. So all the energy is transferred all the way to the hook and MOVES the hook.

They cant clamp down on the weight as well, so it "slips" in their mouth, a hook cant get sunk into flesh unless it moves in the fishes mouth. If they can "hold" the weight you just jerk the fish around little and they open their mouth and let go...

this is MUCH more pronounced in 3/4 and bigger weights

It really doesn't matter to me what anyone uses or why they use it but I have never in my life seen such a sales job done on so many people as this. If you cant set the hook and get that little bitty weight out of the fishes mouth to get the hook in, maybe you should buy Wheaties rather than slick weights.
'It will help you catch more fish" was Jimmy Houston's big saying when he was selling on the TV fishing shows and a lot of people are still drinking the KoolAide I see.

awesome

Man I didn't realize I would start this.. Maybe I'll just import some in from China myself....

Learning lots today!

You sir are a fool! LOL. Don't you know you must have tungsten weights, 70k boat, power poles, 65" fish finders (4 of them), 20 rods, the ninja hood and chapstick to catch fish??? This is 2016 if you haven't heard. What do you think, your Grand Pa used to use a cane pole or what?

I was reading this and thinking the same thing about a fish biting a weight.

I keep hearing the argument for increased sensitivity mentioned when the subject of tungsten comes up. Personally I think your line plays the major roll in sensitivity being the direct connection to the hook and that anything that comes between your line and the hook has a deadening effect on sensitivity and not increasing it, no matter what the material make up would be. I do like tungsten on shorter, baits of 6 inches or less due to the fact that the smaller weight profiles smaller offerings better but on baits ranging from 8 to 12 inches I personally think the size advantage of tungsten is negligible. I am more concerned with the weights profile than I am its chemical makeup, tapered weights are a must for me in heavy matting or heavy timber.

You're better off if you can keep the weight somewhat same color as bait. And yes, tungsten is a must.

I stand corrected.

Not that all weights are 100% pure tungsten or lead . . . I know some/most are not . . . but just looking at their densities gives us a clue.

Tungsten is 1.73 times heavier than lead, so a quarter (.25) ounce tungsten weight will be the same size as a .14 ounce lead weight.

So, all the other points aside, one big advantage I see is the fact that smaller weights tend to hang up much less frequently, at least that has been my experience . . . and certainly for bank fishermen.

I rarely hang up a weightless worm, and if I put a tiny split shot on the line above a worm to get it down a bit quicker, it increases the chances of hanging up just a bit more as I increase the size of the shot.

Same, for me, with bullet weights on T-Rigs: the smaller ones tend to pass through or over or around snags a bit better.

This definitely isn't a cost-benefit analysis where one would compare the increased costs of tungsten over lead to how much is then saved by losing less terminal tackle and baits, but it makes paying more for tungsten seem more reasonable, perhaps even at some sort of cost parity with lead in some cases.

One poster said he used lead for drop shots, tungsten for other applications and this sounds very reasonable to me. Pick your spots.

Brad