subtlefly

Well if it's on my line I am cleaning and innoxing it every session.. but you might be right. I have also bought these lead free alloy sinkers to use from a company called naf, so just experimenting at the moment

About the scent- I actually find it a bit hard to get it to stick to the bait - I thought putting it on a hard rough surface might work? I didn't think that anything would take the sinker, just get them sniffing around the area. Sorry for the bogus photo, that's a shovelnose around 6ft long that took a live herring. I fought him for around 20 minutes to get him up close and I was on my own so that's why the photo is so janked. He ended up leaving with just the hook after busting the 12lb end off the leader

Yeh all good! That's why I am asking you guys for advice! I fish from a tiny pontoon in a creek ( my old man owns the property) so I fish the same spot every time. There are snags and huge stingrays shovelnose and stuff. Every bit of gear I lose ( and I lose quite a lot) sits right there. I think that lead hurts the microbiology... I guess I am just trying to help minimise my impact on that particular area of creek if I am going to fish it for the next 30 years.

Well.. I picked up some salvage steel a while ago.. been watching too many episodes of forged in fire, anyway this one was a piece of threaded bar, drilled a hole in it and inserted plastic tube and araldited it in sanded but left some thread to hold some scent. I have 3mm pla filament but putting the hole in it (by hand) with a 1.5mm bit is a pita! So there has to be a better way to do that- if I was still doing 3d printing I could just print it. But now that I have decided that it really can't run on the braid I can leave out the plastic insert and just use the steel running on the leader.

Yeh made from corn starch - although now that I am putting the sinker back on the leader there is no need for the pla sleeve

316 stainless steel handmade.

OK team so I went and tested the idea - it worked ok. Caught, landed and released a large stingray and caught this 50cm grunter with the rig as advertised. However after this I did notice the braid was rubbed- so I chickened out and reverted to having the sinker run on the long leader as usual. I am happy with the idea of 100% biodegradable sinkers so will continue to make them to suit. Thanks

Hi team, I have made a steel sinker with a PLA lining and a spot to hold scent. I am planning on having a circle hook (Black Magic KL 7.0) 12 lb flurocarbon leader (about 30cm) tied with a FC knot to 15 lb daiwa 8x braid. This sinker will sit behind the FC knot (maybe with a bead stopper) and it will be able to run free on the braid. We are using Shimano bait runner reels and I have been containing the sinkers on a long leader so far - this new plan will let the fish take the bait and run without feeling the sinker.... I have made a custom sinker with a pla insert and some holes and texture to hold some scent. Fishing from a small pontoon in the creek - We are targeting fish like Grunter at the moment - current record is 55 cm Will this work? Do you have any advice? Thanks for your thoughts