I’m just like you… I like to read about and fish with fancy fishing rods, reels and sweet-looking bass fishing lures. A tungsten barrel weight may not be on the top of your list when it comes to browsing the internet, but I encourage you to hang with me while I describe my experience fishing with this particular one. I’ve been testing it for a while and I know it’s going to help you catch more fish in tough situations.
These barrel weights are the way to go when it comes to Carolina rigging. This technique isn’t always fun but my gosh, when the bite gets tough, it can be really tough to beat. For a long time, I’ve used lead weights for this technique and I dealt with a lot of missed fish over the years. The lead’s lack of density led to an extreme lack of sensitivity and by the time I felt bottom composition changes and bites, it was often too late.
So let’s go over this particular weight and see what makes it such a great choice.
Incredible sensitivity and durability
The WOO! Tungsten Barrel Weight is made from 97% tungsten which might not sound too significant to many anglers. But after fishing with it for over a year, I can tell you that it makes an enormous difference when you’re dragging a Carolina rig along the bottom. Because tungsten is much denser and harder than lead, it transmits vibration straight to your rod blank and reel seat much easier than lead. A lot of times when you’re fishing a lead barrel weight on a Carolina rig, stumps, shell beds and rocks will simply feely “mushy” which makes it very difficult to differentiate between different types of cover. It also makes it tough to tell when you’re actually getting a bite.
This weight, however, is going to be my Carolina rig weight choice moving forward. I can tell if I’m in sand, pea gravel, shells, golf ball-sized rocks, baseball-sized rocks of the root system of a submerged stump. Thanks to the density and hardness of the tungsten, I’m totally confident that I know what I’m dragging through each and every cast.
The price of tungsten weights tends to scare folks off at times but with the durability of this particular weight, I’d encourage those people to rethink that stance. These weights are finished with a durable powder paint that makes them extremely chip resistant. In these photos, you’ll see some scuffs because I’ve been fishing with this particular weight for a long, long time. But you’re not going to see giant chips that peel the color off the weight.
Doesn’t tear up your line
This is a big issue that anglers deal with when they’re fishing a Carolina rig. With cheap, low-quality tungsten, the interior of the hole through which the line goes is often burred and can totally screw up your line in just a few casts. You might not notice it while you’re fishing but when you set the hook for the first time, your line will snap like a twig. That’s a bad feeling I don’t wish on anyone.
I have kept this Carolina rig setup rigged in my rod locker for months without retying it. The same WOO! Tungsten Barrel Weight has been on the rig and as you can see in the photos, there is absolutely zero damage to my main line. I can set the hook as hard as I need to and never worry about my line breaking. This might sound like a “simple” trait to some but I’m telling you, it can be tough to find similar weights that won’t tear up your line. I can confidently recommend these, however, if you’re looking for a barrel weight that you can leave on a single Carolina rig for a long time.
The bottom line for WOO! Tungsten Barrel Weights
I’m going to buy more of these and keep ‘em in my terminal tackle box for years to come. They’re nothing fancy and they don’t have all kinds of crazy marketing claims tied to ‘em, which I really like. It’s good, high-quality tungsten that will let you feel everything and every bite while also being easy on your line and allowing you to have confidence in every hookset. When it comes a Carolina rig, I don’t think I could recommend a tungsten barrel weight more than this one.
