Fishing Weights and Sinkers: Types, Sizes and Lead Laws

A collection of lead fishing weights on a table: pyramid, bank, egg, bullet, flat teardrop and trolling sinkers, with a small box of split shot and slip sinkers — Photo: Ruff tuff cream puff, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Our picks at a glance

Best split shotBullet Weights Reusable Split Shot
Pinch the ears on the back to open it, so it comes off and goes back on without pliers. Sizes B (.015 oz) to 3 (.105 oz) with the weight on the table; $1.99 a pack at Tackle Warehouse, no owner reviews yet.
Best sliding sinkerBullet Weights Egg Sinkers
The all-round slip sinker for Carolina and catfish rigs, cast from 1/8 oz up to 16 oz in one line, so one brand covers a bass pond and a big river. From $2.29 a pack at Tackle Warehouse.
Best tungstenWOO! Tungsten Never Chip Flipping Weights
97% tungsten, color made in rather than painted on, the size stamped on the side, 1/16 to 2 oz. $10.79–26.99. Rated 3.5/5 from 2 reviews; one says the smoothness is hit or miss and some fray the line.
Best for walleyeLindy Walking Sinker
The weight of the Lindy rig: an oversized line hole so a fish feels little resistance, and a heel it rides on, which Lindy says makes it more snag-proof than most sinkers. 1/8 to 3/4 oz, $2.99.
Lead-free bullet weightBullet Weights Ultra Steel Bullet Weights
A steel worm weight for waters where lead is banned, 1/16 to 1 oz, natural or colored. The maker claims less bulk than other non-lead materials; it is still larger than lead for the same weight.

Fishing weights, also called fishing sinkers, come in about ten common shapes, from a .015 oz split shot to a 24 oz surf pyramid. The shape decides the job: some slide on the line so a fish can run without feeling them, some dig into sand, some lie flat in current. Pick the shape for the rig and the bottom, then the lightest weight that holds. And check your state before you buy lead.

Lead fishing tackle killed 49% of the adult loons the Loon Preservation Committee collected dead in New Hampshire from 1989 to 2011.

Which fishing weight do you need?

Start from what you fish for. Each line below is one sinker type for one kind of fishing; the sizes and the reasons follow further down.

Bluegill and other panfish from the bank: removable split shot, pinched on above the hook or under a bobber. Kentucky’s wildlife agency lists removable split shot in its starter box.
Bass in weeds and wood: a bullet weight on a Texas rig, in tungsten if you fish heavy cover often.
Bass on open bottom: an egg or cylinder sinker on a Carolina rig, or a drop-shot weight below the hook on a drop-shot rig.
Walleye: a walking sinker on a Lindy rig, built to ride over the bottom without snagging.
Catfish in rivers: an egg or a flat no-roll sinker on a slip-sinker rig; a bell or bank sinker on a three-way rig.
Surf: a pyramid on sand, or a Sputnik with wire arms when the surf is heavy, often on a fish finder rig.

The types of fishing sinkers and what each is for

Wired2Fish’s Jason Sealock sorts every sinker into three groups: slip sinkers the line runs through, weights tied to the end of the line, and add-ons that pinch or clip on, like split shot. The sizes below are what one maker, Bullet Weights, casts in lead, unless the row names another.

Sinker	How it rides	What it is for	Sizes sold
Split shot	Pinched on the line	A little weight on light line; drifting a worm; balancing a float	B .015 oz to 3 .105 oz (0.4–3 g)
Egg	Slides; line through the middle	Carolina and catfish slip-sinker rigs; slips past rock	1/8–16 oz (4–454 g)
Bullet (worm weight)	Slides, nose first, ahead of the bait	Texas rig through weeds and wood	1/64–1 oz (0.4–28 g)
Bank	Tied on; teardrop	Long casts onto mud, silt or sand; calm surf	1/2–20 oz (14–567 g)
Pyramid	Tied on; four flat sides	Holds in sand and mud and in the surf; wedges in rock	1–24 oz (28–680 g)
No-roll	Slides; flat sides	River current over hard bottom; catfish	1–6 oz (28–170 g)
Walking	Slides; rides on its heel	Lindy rig for walleye over rock	1/8–3/4 oz (4–21 g), Lindy
Drop-shot	Tied or clipped below the hook	Drop-shot rig for bass	1/8–1/2 oz (4–14 g)
Bell (bass casting)	Tied on; swivel in the eye	Three-way and bottom rigs; the swivel stops line twist	1/8–20 oz (4–567 g); #10 is 1/8 oz
Sputnik (storm)	Tied on; wire arms	Anchors in heavy surf; the arms release and swing back on the retrieve	Surf weights

Outdoor Life’s Joe Cermele explains why the shapes matter once they land. A bank sinker casts “a mile” and moves a little in moderate current, which rolls the bait around to cover water. The pyramid is “specifically designed to anchor your bait in soft bottoms,” but is “a poor choice for rocky bottoms” because it wedges in the cracks. The egg sinker lets a fish “pick up your bait and swim away with it without immediately feeling resistance.” Flat sinkers suit catfish, sturgeon and carp on hard bottom, because current cannot push them easily and they rarely wedge between rocks.

A few weights do not fit the table. Nail weights are thin, pointed weights you push into a soft plastic, such as a swimbait or a stick bait. Board weights stick to the belly of a hard bait, Sealock notes, to make a floating jerkbait sink or suspend. Neither does anything on its own: it changes how a lure falls.

Split shot sizes: what B, BB and 3/0 weigh

Split shot sizes look backward until you see the weights. The letter sizes and 3/0 are the light ones; among the plain numbers a higher number is lighter, so a 7 is lighter than a 3. This is Bullet Weights’ own table:

Size	Weight	Pieces per pack
B	.015 oz (0.43 g)	60
BB	.020 oz (0.57 g)	60
3/0	.025 oz (0.71 g)	40
7	.040 oz (1.13 g)	30
6 (round only)	.050 oz (1.42 g)	24
5	.080 oz (2.27 g)	22
4	.085 oz (2.41 g)	20
3	.105 oz (2.98 g)	15

So a size 3 weighs seven times a B. Bullet Weights also casts sizes 1, 0, 00 and 000 in its reusable shot, in packs of 10, 7, 5 and 3, but publishes no weights for them. This is one maker’s table: read the packet when you switch brands.

A pile of shiny removable split shot sinkers with the slot and the two ears on the back that open them

Removable split shot by Water Gremlin, size PSS-7, about 6 mm across. Photo: Mx. Granger, Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

Removable shot has two ears on the back: pinch them and the shot opens. Use it where you change weight often, as when a drifting worm should barely tick over the bottom of a pool. Cermele keeps split shot for “shallow water, small moving waters, and ponds”, where a light line needs just a little weight. Pinch it closed with pliers rather than your teeth; the EPA says never to “bite down on slip shot”.

How heavy should a fishing weight be?

Use the lightest weight that holds the bottom, or reaches the fish, in the current and wind you have. Add weight only when depth, current or wind takes away the feel of the bottom. The numbers below are from the anglers and editors named in the sources.

Fishing	Sinker	Weight
Texas rig, stick bait on a slow fall	Bullet	1/32–1/8 oz (0.9–4 g)
Texas rig, 5 ft (1.5 m) or less	Bullet	1/8 oz (4 g)
Texas rig, about 20 ft (6 m)	Bullet	1/4–3/8 oz (7–11 g)
Texas rig, punching matted grass	Bullet	1–2 oz (28–57 g)
Carolina rig, by depth (Greg Vinson)	Cylinder	1/2–1 oz (14–28 g)
Catfish, by current and depth (Steve Quinn)	Bank, bell, no-roll	1/2–10 oz (14–283 g)
Light surf, whiting, 10 lb spinning outfit	Shape not named	1 oz (28 g)
Surf, 12 lb outfit, placid surf	Bank	2–3 oz (57–85 g)
Surf, 11–13 ft (3.4–4 m) rods	Pyramid, bank	4–6 oz (113–170 g)

The Texas rig rows follow Bassmaster’s weight guide, which names four things that decide: the rate of fall, the depth of the fish, the density of the cover and, “most importantly,” the wind. For bass in thick grass, it is cover that sets the number. Florida Sportsman sets surf weights at “as little as 2 ounces to as much as 8.” A light spinning rod rated for 1 oz lures “mustn’t be overloaded with 3 ounces of lead,” it warns: the tip collapses on the cast.

For catfish, Quinn’s range runs from half an ounce to 10 oz, set by the current and depth of the water. In small creeks, he writes, “weights up to an ounce or so are all you need.”

Lead, tungsten, steel, bismuth or tin?

Lead is the cheap, soft standard, and in Cermele’s words it “remains the most common.” The alternatives differ in one number that decides how big the sinker is: density.

A bar chart of the space one ounce of sinker takes by metal: tungsten 1.47 cubic centimeters, lead 2.50, bismuth 2.89, iron 3.60 and tin 3.89

Tungsten is 19.3 g/cm³ against lead’s 11.342, so the same weight takes about 41% less space. A smaller weight slips through grass and wood more easily, and tungsten does not chip or deform the way soft lead does. The cost is price, and many common sinker shapes are not sold in tungsten at all. Greg Vinson finds tungsten “has a better feel than lead,” but on a Carolina rig in brush and rock “you’ll lose a ton of them,” and that “can turn expensive in a hurry.”

How much do fishing weights cost? Lead is cheap: a pack of Bullet Weights split shot is $1.99 and a pack of its egg sinkers starts at $2.29 at Tackle Warehouse. Tungsten costs more: WOO! Tungsten’s flipping weights run $10.79 to $26.99 a pack, by size, and a pack holds one to five weights.

Tin is cheaper than tungsten and softer than other non-lead metals, which is why Bullet Weights casts its lead-free removable shot from it. But it is light: expect to need more or bigger tin split shot to reach the depth that fewer lead shot reached, Cermele writes. Steel sinkers take room too: steel is an iron alloy, and one ounce of iron takes 44% more space than one of lead. Bismuth sits closest to lead, about 16% bigger for the same weight, and Yellowstone National Park names bismuth-tin, molybdenum and tungsten as the lead-free sinker metals it allows.

Where are lead fishing sinkers banned?

Five states restrict small lead sinkers by weight, and Washington restricts them by length on its loon lakes. The rules cover sinkers and, in most states, jigs; check the current regulations of the state you fish.

State	What the rule covers	Size	Where
New Hampshire	Using and selling lead sinkers and jigs (jigs painted or not)	1 oz (28 g) or less	Sale statewide; use in all fresh water
Maine	Selling lead sinkers and jigs; using them	1 oz (28 g) or less, or 2.5 in (6.4 cm) or less	Sale statewide; use on inland waters
Massachusetts	Using lead sinkers, weights and jigs	Under 1 oz (28 g)	Inland waters
Vermont	Selling and using lead sinkers (not jig heads or lures)	½ oz (14 g) or less	Statewide
New York	Retail sale of lead sinkers (not jig heads or lures)	½ oz (14 g) or less	Statewide; sale only
Washington	Using lead weights and jigs	1.5 in (3.8 cm) or less along the longest axis	12 named loon lakes

Since Sept. 1, 2026, Maine’s use ban covers painted lead jigs as well. Washington also bans flies that contain lead at Long Lake in Ferry County. In Yellowstone National Park, “terminal tackle must be lead-free,” and the park names “leaded split-shot sinkers” among the banned items. California’s best-known lead law, AB 711, requires nonlead ammunition “when taking any wildlife with a firearm”; the state wildlife department’s page on it names no fishing tackle.

Why the loon? Loons swallow lead by taking a fish with tackle still attached, by striking at a lure or a hooked fish, or by mistaking a lead pellet for the grit they swallow. In the Loon Preservation Committee’s New Hampshire study, the deaths peaked in July and August, with the fishing season, which points at current fishing rather than old lead on the lake bottom.

Are fishing weights toxic to you? Lead is. The EPA’s advice is short: wash your hands after handling lead sinkers or cleaning out a tackle box, and do not pour your own. Melted lead throws off particles that spread through a house, and the agency “strongly advises against home manufacturing of lead sinkers and jigs.” It names tin, bismuth and tungsten as the less toxic alternatives.

The picks in detail

These five cover the shapes most anglers use, from a pond to a river. Each comes from a maker that publishes its sizes.

Reusable Split Shot (Bullet Weights)

For bank anglers, beginners and anyone who fishes under a float. Its letter and number sizes come with a published weight each, which is where the split shot table above comes from. Its limits: the larger sizes, 1 to 000, have no published weights, and there are no owner reviews on Tackle Warehouse yet.

Egg Sinkers (Bullet Weights)

For bass anglers with a Carolina rig and catfish anglers with a slip-sinker rig. The maker calls it “ideal for catfish” and points to its “weedless performance.” Skip it where you must hold soft bottom in current: there, Cermele writes, egg sinkers “don’t hold quite as well.”

Never Chip Flipping Weights (WOO! Tungsten)

For bass anglers who flip and pitch into cover all season and will pay for a small, hard weight. Wired2Fish picks it as its best tungsten bullet sinker. The two owner reviews split: one calls them “best in the game,” the other found them inconsistent and moved to a cheaper tungsten brand.

Walking Sinker (Lindy)

For walleye anglers dragging live bait along the bottom. The line runs through an oversized hole, and the sinker rides on its heel. Lindy’s own words are the only snag claim, and the page has no reviews.

Ultra Steel Bullet Weights (Bullet Weights)

For bass anglers in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, or anywhere you want to drop lead. The maker lists “retains its shape better” and “less oxidized buildup” among its points. Expect a bigger weight than the lead one you replace.

How we chose

The picks come from the makers’ own size tables, the retailers’ prices and every owner review those pages carry, which is few: two reviews in total across the five. Wired2Fish’s buyer’s guide, Outdoor Life’s terminal tackle guide and the authors named in the weight table set what each shape is for. No sinker was tested by hand for this page.

The size and weight numbers are the makers’; the space each metal takes is worked out from its density. For the rest of the end of your line, the fishing tackle guide covers hooks, swivels, floats and a first tackle box.