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Top: The Breakaway sinker holds the bottom until you wind your reel. Then the wires breakaway under pressure to end in the released position shown in the second picture. Note the long tail wire. |
The breakaway sinker, I believe, first originated in England . The idea was to produce a sinker that would cast a long way, and hold firm on the bottom using wires that would release when a fish hit or the angler decides to reel it in. It is a design that is much copied and often modified with slightly different shapes, longer tines, longer tail wires, and the addition of plastic over the wires to help them roll off the lead better.
A useful trick when you want a little extra grip from your breakaway style sinker is to wrap a rubber band around it to hold the wires in the set position for longer. It then requires more pressure to break the wires free.
The sinker shown above is a long tail version. This has better anchoring ability as the tail acts like an anchor chain forcing the wires to dig in better.
I must say the breakaway is my favourite surfcasting sinker. It has the two most important qualities needed: it flies well when cast, and it holds firm on the bottom.
For surfcasting it is most important that you use the correct weight of sinker for the rod blank you are fishing. This is usually stamped on the side of the rod. Usually there is a weight range something like 100 to 150g. It is best to use a sinker that is at the top of this range for maximum casting distance and bottom holding grip. In my opinion you need a rod designed to cast at least 200g for serious surfcasting. Any thing lighter is really only a toy!
You might also be interested in surfcasting at night, or catching sevengill sharks from the beach, and The Complete Guide to Surfcasting by Allan Burgess.
Go to Fishing Tackle Reviews page.
