In case you think nothing can be done to improve the venerable Texas-rig sinker, Marty Stone feels Tru-Tungsten is about to come out with the ultimate Texas-rig weight.
The "Tru-Tungsten T-Rig by Marty Stone," as it's called, is so new it hasn't been put to the tournament test much yet, but Stone did use some in this year's Bassmaster Classic on Florida's Lake Toho.
But before getting into that, here's what you need to know about Tru-Tungsten weights:
> They're tungsten, which means they are 50% smaller (come though cover easier) and are harder (transmit more vibration so you can determine bottom composition and fish strikes) than lead. Stone said: "The density of tungsten helps transmit feel 10 times better than lead. You know when your bait is on the bottom. You can feel clay, sand and rock, and then if you lose that feel something obviously has it." For these reasons, tungsten weights are ubiquitous at the tour/series level.
> Tru-Tungsten weights also have two key advantages over other tungsten sinker products: 1) The line hole is smooth (no burrs, no rough edges, no sleeve); and 2) the color does not chip, fade or otherwise disappear.
Combine all of that with a titanium spring to make it a "screw-in" weight, and that's what the T-rig is. And as Stone noted, "titanium too is indestructible. The spring will always go back to the correct shape.
"Let me tell you how sensitive it is," he said. "You can hold the (nose) of the weight, bend the spring and release it, and you can feel the vibration through the weight. That won't happen with lead."
His Classic Story
The new Tru-Tungsten T-Rig isn't available yet – it should be in stores around the end of April – and Stone only had four weights of each size (from 1/32 to 1 1/2-ounce) when he hit Florida in February for the Classic.
"The dominant weight for me was 1/4-ounce," he said. His first stop was at the Harris Chain for the Bassmaster Junior World Championship. "I was playing around with (the new T-Rig weights) on a rig with 12-pound (Bass Pro Shops) XPS mono. Now bear in mind I had four 1/4-ounce weights.
"I wanted to see how much damage I could do to my 12-pound line" in the junior practice, he said. "I probably caught eight, including one over 6, and I hadn't retied." He had another bite and broke off. "I shot myself in the foot. I was down to three weights."
When one of the boys in the boat needed a weight, he gave him one. "Now I was down to two for the Classic," Stone said. "I actually thought I had another pack, but I didn't."
Here's a close-up of the new T-Rig weight.
So for Classic competition, he took his two weights and rigged one on a rod with 12-pound line and the other on a rod with 14-pound line. "I was fishing some trick worms around reed clumps and lily pads to get bites," he said.
At one point he hooked a fish that went under the boat and got stuck in some reeds. He put his rod down and pulled his line to get at the fish. He got the fish, but lost the weight. So he was down to just one 1/4-ouncer.
"I had a choice," he said. "I could clip off the one I had on 12-pound line and put it on the 14-pound (rig), which I was predominantly using, or I could tie on an old prototype (Gambler) Florida-rig-type weight." He did the latter, and at "the very next weed clump, a fish comes out hot and hits it." The result? A lost fish.
"The hook never penetrated because it hit the sleeve (the line guide through the weight which sticks out both sides) and cost me a 4-pounder. Right then I clipped off the 1/4-ouncer, tied it on the 14-pound line, used it the rest of the day and never lost a fish. That one fish probably cost me the cut."
Here was his Classic rig:
> American Rodsmiths 7' 6" Marty Stone signature tube flipping rod (medium), Browning Midas reel (6:1), 14-pound XPS mono (clear), 1/4-ounce prototype Tru-Tungsten T-Rig, 3/0 Owner XXX Strong hook, and two baits: a 7-inch Zoom Trick Worm (junebug) or a 5-inch Yamamoto Senko (junebug). "When it was calm you could throw the Trick Worm, and when it was windy you needed a little bit bigger profile (the Senko)," he noted.
> He fished reed clumps and pads in 3 to 4/12 feet over a harder bottom because "the fish were spawning or getting ready to come in."
Notable
> Stone, who used to endorse Gambler products, used prototype tungsten versions of Gambler's Florida Rig screw-in weight to win the Harris Chain Bassmaster in 2004.
> He stressed that if you use weights with sleeves, "if you don't rig it just right, the hook can hit the sleeve and stop hook penetration." But with the T-Rig weight, "the spring will contract enough" for hook-ups. "That's the difference between a caught fish and a not-caught fish."
> He feels the colors of the Tru-Tungsten weights help him. "It might not make a difference, but in my mind it's a whole lot prettier package. I'm fishing plastics now with a lot more confidence."
