Tungsten Or Bust - Get The Lead Out!

TUNGSTEN OR BUST - Get The Lead Out!

Palmetto Fly N Fish

David Hutton

April 23, 2019,

I'm one of those anglers that prefers not to use a lot of weight in a fly – ideally, I want none. 

I don't tie hair and feathers to hooks, just to drag them down with weight and rob these miracle materials of their life.

But sometimes you have to get a fly down in the water.

Lightweight flies will drift right over the fish in a current, or fail to reach deep enough in still water. 

So, sooner or later, you'll need to get some weight on your cast to get your flies down from the surface.

The traditional way to do this is with split-shot sinkers. And they work, which is why they are traditional.

But split-shot have a few bad features:

1. They're made of lead

2. They're weight is fixed

3. They may slip on the line

4. They can hang up on rocks and in crevices.

But there is an alternative that beats split-shot hands down - tungsten putty. 

The Honeymoon Passes

I view fly fishing as a relationship. And as with all relationships, once a few seasons of fly fishing were under my belt, I found the honeymoon had passed. 
Yes, dear readers, I came face to face with one of fly fishing's flaws:

It is basically a shallow water operation.

6-10 feet in depth is pushing it most of the time on your average floating fly line.

So, If you want to keep your fly down, you must get tricky and add shot, switch to some sort of sinking line arrangement... or weigh down your flies.

Which is a no-no.

Hmmmm....something else is called for.

Enter Tungsten Putty
When you first see tungsten putty, you get two impressions at once. It seems to be simple enough, but you soon see its really a complex thing. 

Wrapped in wax paper, in a cute little plastic case.

This well-used gob of putty looks gooey, like half-melted chocolate....
but its tactile and pliable

Technically, it is powdered tungsten, in a semi-solid polymer binder.

In the hand, it is similar to a wad of sticky Silly Putty, but in colors like black, brown, and olive green. It's stretchy and springy, but also clingy and mysteriously weighty, all at the same time. Like I said, complex - and pretty cool.

Deep Water For Fish

I started using tungsten putty a couple years ago, after looking for ways to get some extra depth from a floating line without weighting the fly. I tried sinking line tips, wrap on weights, and split shot, but wasn't entirely happy with any of them.

I could have switched to a sinking line, of course. But being able to fine tune an existing rig by adding small quantities of weight is invaluable. 

I didn't see it that way at the time, of course, but that's what I was really  seeking... something I could add to the floating line to create an intermediate step, before I had to switch to a sinking version.

Little did I know how many advantages tungsten putty would offer over split-shot, all while satisfying my needs.

Tungsten Putty - Pro's

•  It's tungsten-based, not lead-based. Tungsten is non toxic*, and is almost universally legal and accepted where lead is banned.

* Here, I avoid the term, “environmentally friendly.” 
My friend, and brilliant bio-chemist, Leo Nam Nguyen, has pointed out that few man-made things are utterly benign in the environment. So, we'll say that the tungsten is non-toxic and leave it at that.

•  Tungsten is 30% more dense than lead.

This means it takes less to do the same job. Just a small piece will sink a leader or fly, and get your presentation down near bottom.
It is suitable for most applications where you'd otherwise use split-shot.

•  Tungsten putty is reusable. 

Just pull the putty off your leader, and press it back onto the wad in the container. It doesn't dry out under normal conditions.

Being re-usable isn't all that big a deal, at least to me. The stuff is ridiculously cheap, and I use really small bits of it. I often end up scrapping what doesn't make it back into the container.

But it CAN be saved and reused, if you choose, so we'll call it an advantage.

•  Split shot crimp onto your bare leader, so they can slip if too loose, or worse, potentially damage, weaken, and abrade leaders. 

Note, I say, "potentially damage" your leader.
It's one of those things you hear in fishing circles, something everyone just accepts. But it has never been a problem, as far as I know. But since tungsten putty doesn’t affect the leader at all, it's a positive.

•  Tungsten putty allows for infinite weight variation. 

Split-shot also comes in only fixed sizes and weights. Same with sinking tips, or lines. 
But, you can quickly put on, or take off, as much of the putty as you need to find the sweet spot.

•  It is much easier to apply than split-shot. 

There's no fiddling with small shot, dinky Zip-Loc bags, hemostats or pliers, magnifiers for your old eyes.... You just pinch off a teensy bit of the putty, and roll it onto the leader where you want it.

•  Once applied, tungsten putty is very low profile. 

Split-shot can jam, or hang up in rocks and crevices, causing break offs. But the putty is formed into small, non-snagging bulges on your leader. I'd go so far as to call it snag free.

Tungsten Putty - Con's

If this stuff has a down side, it is the only one shared with split shot: it may slide along the length of the leader in use.

There are a few ways to combat this.

1. Make sure the leader is dry when you apply the putty. 

This goes a long way to keeping it from migrating up or down the leader.

2. Use tippet rings between leader and tippet. 

These give you an anchor point for the putty. A micro-sized barrel swivel is a good alternative.

3. Use hand-tied, tapered leaders.

The knots along a hand tied leader give you multiple anchor points for the putty.

Tungsten putty wadded around a tippet ring 

Here it is rolled around a knot along a hand-tied leader

You Want It - You Know You Do

Tungsten putty is widely available, and most fly fishing stockists should carry it. I've seen it under the Hareline label, and a number of cottage industry sellers offer it as well.

There are also some unlikely sources for the stuff...

It is apparently used to fine tune the swing of golf clubs or tennis rackets, so you can look for it that way.

I've also found it is used to tweak the performance of pinewood derby race cars.

If a local fly shop is not an option, look for it from on-line sellers along any of these lines. If you are eBay comfortable, you can get it there, as I do.

Prices range from a few bucks for ½ ounce (15 grams), to $12 bucks for the same thing in a fancy plastic container at a fly shop. I've bought several 15 gram blobs of it over the last couple of years, just because I like the stuff and consider it a good value. I now have more than I'll probably use in 5 years.

NOTE - Tungsten fishing putty is non-toxic, but it is NOT a toy for children. 
To be on the safe side, wash your hands after use, and keep it away from food and your mouth.

Time Tested

As good as it is, I expect many of you will be disappointed by tungsten putty, since it isn't glitzy or high-tech – its actually old school, and kinda stodgy. 

I don't know how long its been around in its present form, but I know lead putty was used in granddads day. So, the idea of a weighted putty is hardly new.

But it hangs on in the market place, because a cadre of wise fly fishing folk know its usefulness. 
And, it seems to have enjoyed a resurgence in recent times.

This is mainly due to our modern aversion to lead, I suppose, but it also stays on the market because of its utility. 
Once you discover it's benefits, it seems you never want to be without it.

Because of that, you should give it a try. 

Time-tested things like this can inspire us, with a sort of marriage between the old, and our newer thinking. And very often, we end up wondering how we got along without it!

Thanks and Tight Lines,

David

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