“What kind of sinker should I use in Ocean City, Maryland?”

Anglers go to the sinker bins and get overwhelmed! There are almost as many
different kinds of sinkers as hooks. “What kind and weight should we buy?”

First decide where you are going fishing when visiting Ocean City, Maryland. In the bay, where there is muddy
bottom, you do not want a sinker that will get hung up. The bank, bass cast,
or egg sinker all work well in the bay. All these sinkers are either round,
or smooth shaped and will bounce along as you drift or cast.

If you are casting from the shore into a little bit of current you do want a
little “staying” power, so the bank sinker is the preferable sinker. It has
enough shape to hold without “digging” in. How many ounces you want to use
depends on the current and depth of the water. Generally, around the Route
50 Bridge anglers use a two, three, or four-ounce bank type sinker. If the
angler is casting into the Inlets where the water is very swift, he may need
to use a three, four, five or six ounce bank type sinker.

If you are offshore in the ocean in a boat, the bank type sinker is
generally preferable. When you are dealing with depths up to 60 feet or
more, you need to carry plenty of lead weights. Four, five, six, eight, and
in some instances even more are needed! Currents can run strong offshore.
The deeper the water you are fishing in, the more weight you will need.
Drifting with the wind increases your need for more weight. When anchoring
you can get away with less. (Party boats usually use 6 and 8-ounce bank
sinkers.)

Thin diameter Spectra lines such as Power Pro also give you a “sinker”
advantage. The thinner your diameter of line, the less resistance there is
against the water and the less sinker you have to use. A man on a party
boat with 30-pound Power Pro with an 8 pound test diameter may be going
straight down with a 6-ounce weight while the guy next to him with 30 pound
monofilament has a hard time holding with an 8-ounce sinker! Getting to the
bottom and staying there is crucial when bottom fishing.

Anglers drifting in the bay often choose the bell shaped sinkers called bass
cast sinkers. These are especially popular because they have a barrel swivel
molded into them so they “swivel” at the end of your line. This helps
eliminate line twist and the smooth bell shape of the sinker glides smoothly
along the bottom as you drift. When drifting for flounder in the bay,
anglers carry an array of different sizes from one, one and half, two,
three, and four-ounce bass cast sinkers. Use one, one and a half, and
two-ounce sinkers when drifting around the Rt. 90 Bridge, Thorofare,
Convention Hall Channel, or the bay behind Assateague. When fishing in water
that doesn’t get much over 10 feet anglers pretty much stick to the one to
two-ounce size range. When the angler gets close to the main east channel
near the draw of the Route 50 Bridge, the tide can run strong. Here the
angler may have to slip on the three and four angler sinkers. I’ve even
seen anglers go to fives when drifting this strong water. The same is true
when fishing the inlet, or the strong water off the Homer Gudelsky Park
where the Old Railroad Bridge used to be.
Flounder are on the bottom, so you need to have your sinker on the bottom to
catch the fluke!

“When do anglers use those egg shaped sinkers?”

Anglers use egg sinkers, when they are making certain kinds of rigs. Bank
and bass cast type sinkers are attached at the bottom of a top and bottom
type rig or to the snap or loop of a single leader pre-made rig. Egg
sinkers are just that. An egg shaped weight with a hole running through it.
The angler makes a rig with a length of 30 or 40 pound leader about 6 to 12
inches long and lets the egg sinker slide up and down on the leader between
two barrel swivels. Then the angler ties on a long leadered hook to the
barrel swivel and has a rig to “live bait” spot, finger mullet, or eels for
flounder or stripers. The advantage of this rig is that there is no line
twist because the sinker is free on the leader. The disadvantage of course,
is if you need to change the sinker size, you have to cut the leader and
re-tie it. These rigs are very popular in the inlet where there are a lot
of rocks to get snagged on. They are also very popular when you need to cast
a live bait towards the rocks or the white water at the very tip of the
South Jetty.

“What are the flat sinkers for?”

Flat sinkers that look like a coin with a brass eye on them are good for
fishing in snaggy areas such as the Inlets or along the bulkhead between 2nd
and 4th Streets. They are also called “River” sinkers. They are especially
popular among tautog fisherman when they fish for these fish close in along
the rocks at the jetties. They use one, one and a half, two, and three-ounce
“River” sinkers when fishing in the rocks. However, when the tide slacks,
and the anglers what to cast further out into the channel, they generally
switch to bank type sinkers.

“What about these longer skinny sinkers with an eye at each end?”

These are “trolling” or “inline” sinkers. These are good for adding extra
weight to lures such as bucktails or spoons. They are also good to attach
to the loop of a spec rig if you need to send a spec rig to the bottom for
flounder or trout. To make a bucktail rig tie a one, one and a half, or
two-ounce inline sinker to a 12 to 18-inch piece of leader material in the
30 to 40 pound test range. Tie the bucktail or spoon to the other end of
the leader. Attach a snap swivel to the end of your line, and attach the
inline sinker to the snap swivel to avoid line twist when casting.

“I want to go surf fishing!”

When you cast into the ocean, you are dealing with pure sand and rolling
waves. Round or bank sinkers will roll right back in to shore. For typical
surf fishing anglers use pyramid or hurricane type sinkers. Hurricane (also
called Storm or Tom Taylor) sinkers hold better per ounce than the pyramid
sinkers, but there is a little more bulk to them when dealing with wind
resistance. Another words, you can cast a pyramid further, but the hurricane
will hold better. Generally anglers use three, four, and five-ounce sinkers
on a typical day in the surf. If your rod is light and it’s a nice calm
day, you can try a 2-ounce sinker.

I tried one of those “frog tongue” sinkers the other day in the surf. They
would cast a mile (well not really) but did not hold as well as the pyramid
or hurricane sinker. It was fine on a nice day with the kingfish bite. I
like to cast out and slowly bounce it back in. When you fish like this the
pyramid or tongue sinker is better than the hurricane sinker because it
really drags the bottom. But if it’s rough, and you want to stay out there,
stick with the hurricane. During really turbulent conditions, anglers use
six, eight, and 10 ounce weights in the surf. But that’s not a typical nice
day to be out there!

Sinkers, sinkers, and more sinkers. If you’re not sure which one to use,
ask the clerk in the bait and tackle store while visiting Ocean City, Maryland!

Good fishing….

Need bait and tackle? Come see us at Oyster Bay Tackle, Ocean City, Maryland (410-524-3433) or Fenwick Tackle, Fenwick Island, Delaware (302-539-7766), OR Shop Online!