Who is this www.tungstenweight.com?
by: Tom Branch, Jr.
It all started with an avid fishermen named Brian Szubinski who lives in the Midwest and loves to bass fish year around. More than anything he wants other people to become a better fisherman. Every year when old man winter arrives in the Midwest there are a few people who still like to bass fish. Two friends started a journey to head south to bass fish that would change the world of tungsten weights in March of 2010. The first year Brian went to Falcon Lake in Texas where he did not have a clue of what lures to use, or even what kind of gear to bring. After the first day on the water, Brian realized the need for tungsten weights. The problem was he did not have any with him and he needed them fast! First thing he did was to go online and order $200 of tungsten weights and have them shipped overnight to the hotel where he was staying. The trip was a success because he caught tons of fish. The only problem he encountered was that after losing every last bit of tungsten he had with him that week, he figured this type of fishing equipment is going to be costly. So, while on the long 22 hour drive back from Texas back to Chicago he started thinking, studying and pondering. Brian decided that he needed to find someone who he could buy tungsten weights in bulk from at a good price and still get a quality product. Well, he found that company and purchased a new tungsten weight that included a plastic insert in it. Now it was time for another research and development trip back to Texas to test the new product on the bass.
Upon Brian’s arrival back at Falcon Lake he began testing the new tungsten weights with the inserts and quickly realize they are complete junk and they frayed all of his fishing line including the braided line. Fraying any type of fishing line weakens it and will cause the line to break quickly. After a few hours of fishing he knew it was time to go back to the drawing board on this idea. So Brian returns to the hotel and gets back online and orders more tungsten weights that are insert free and has them overnighted to Texas. This time he felt things were going to be different because he spent twice what he did the previous year. Now he has a big box full of tungsten weights coming his way because he refuses to run out of weights while fishing in Texas. The funny part of this whole story is Brian still, to this day, has some of those weights sitting on his desk as paper weights to remind him of his passion for excellence.
This trip was more of a learning experience and after doing days and days of research he finally came to the conclusion that 90% of all the tungsten mined comes from China. Turns out Brian has a long time friend that owns a copper plant in China and knew he would help him. Through their friendship, he has been able to borrow his friend’s assistant to do some of his legwork. After receiving samples from 11 different plants, Brian was able to determine who he thought made the best tungsten weights. Now that he had finally found a quality supplier, it was time to negotiate a deal. Brian took the long flight to China to meet with the tungsten company’s representatives.
So what’s so special about tungsten? Fishermen who have experienced the tungsten difference know the extra sensitivity of this dense (remove the comma) hard metal can give you over the softer, less dense lead or brass. This extra density transmits better when you drag the weight along the bottom. You'll be able to distinguish between bottom compositions; from sand, gravel, rock, mud, and wood, much easier than with any other conventional bullet weight. All of tungstenweights.com weights are painted and powder coated to provide the most durable painted tungsten weight available in the fishing industry. Most painted tungsten and lead weights chip after a few cast. Now you can match your bait color and tungsten weight color for a better-looking package that will be more attractive bass.
Along with extra sensitivity, the smaller diameter of tungsten weights allows them to slip through snags much more easily than lead. Tungstenweights.com made this metal into a true bullet shape with a rounded and polished the central hole eliminating the need for a plastic insert. Flipping your Texas-rigged worm will give you the bottom contact advantage will enable you to penetrate thick cover with a weight that is much smaller in size than the lead counterpart. Because tungsten is denser and smaller than lead, you’ll hang up less and fish more. Tungsten gives you greater sensitivity so you’ll be able to feel what your bait is doing far more easily than with lead. Tungsten’s density also makes it louder than lead, a quality that’s pretty highly prized by a lot of bass anglers, especially those who fish a lot of Carolina rigs with a glass bead. While lead is soft enough to absorb some of the noise, tungsten transmits more of it through the water, drawing bass to your rig from a greater distance to see what your bait is.
Tungsten is an environmentally safe metal. It is safer for the waterfowl and for humans. The most important fact here is that tungsten offers practical fishing advantages in addition to its health and safety considerations. Tungstenweights.com sinkers are about 25% smaller then the size of a normal lead sinker of the same weight. Since the weights from tungstenweights.com lack that plastic sleeve, they’re a little more compact than other tungsten products. The plastic sleeve running through the center of most tungsten slip-sinkers protects your line against abrasions caused by the sinker itself. The plastic sleeve acts as an insulator in the sinker, deadening feel for the angler and making the sinker larger than necessary. All the tungsten weights available through tungstenweights.com are insert free and they apply a diamond polished interior to all there weights, which allows them to be completely fray free.
Everything sounds so positive about tungsten, but there has to be something negative right? The only major drawback I can find is the cost factor. I believe the cost is really relative to the performance of the product. I have never met a person in the fishing industry that can argue that tungsten doesn't outperform lead. Many times fishermen say they still avoid tungsten sinkers because lead is still permitted in their area.
The future is bright for tungstenweights.com! They have more styles of weights that will be made in a variety of new colors coming out soon. They are also working to develop bass jigs, spinner baits and jig heads out of tungsten that are affordable. Brian and his company has also become a retailer for Keitech products. This will allow you to purchase more tungsten made products on the tungstenweights.com web site.
Since the launch of the company in May 2011tungstenweights.com and has been growing daily thanks to the many great bass fishermen in this country. All Fishermen ask for the same thing: quality and excellence; Brian and his team demand and expect the same from their products and their company.
About the author: Tom
Branch, Jr. is a freelance outdoor writer and a full time Lieutenant/Firefighter-Paramedic
with over 25 years of service with the Gwinnett County Fire Service
in Georgia. He is employed by Basseast.com, LLC as the Director of Marketing and Future Development. He and his wife Kim live north of Atlanta near Braselton, GA with their 2 labs “Jake” and “Scout”.
Follow him on www.facebook.com/tombranchjr and http://twitter.com/tombranchjr
