Sinkers: Casting Your Own

Sinkers help answer the question “Does making your own outdoor gear make economic sense?” Not always. Loading your own ammo, for instance, gets you involved in a fascinating hobby. And lets you produce ammo better than you can buy. But the component costs, nowadays, mean you won’t be saving all that much on a load-to-load basis.

As noted, one exception to the rule is molding your own sinkers. If you’re good at scrounging, the basic ingredient---lead---doesn’t cost anything. So you’re talking about a one-time cost for the mold. And, with some designs, you have to buy wire eyes or swivels as well. Even so, the cost savings can be nothing short of incredible.

This is perhaps most evident with larger forms; those used for salt-water and big-river fishing. Although there are many styles used for these purposes, the three most common are bank, pyramid, and storm.

A bank style has its eye molded in, so nothing else is required. Both pyramid and storm sinkers require brass eyes. But at roughly four bucks per hundred, that’s a negligible cost.

>The molds you need in the larger styles run about thirty bucks a throw, with as many as six cavities. And when I say they’re a one-time investment, I mean just that. These molds never seem to wear out.

Let’s say you invest in a mold to make pyramids. Depending on size, pyramids run anywhere from just under a dollar to as much as $6 each. Let’s say you mostly use those in the 3-5 ounce range, a not unusual situation. Average cost: $1.50 each.

To cast your own, once you have the mold, costs you four cents each for the brass eyes. Which means for an investment of around $35, you can make 100 of these at 35 cents each. A significant savings right there. After that, you’re only cost is the brass eyes.

You could increase your investment by purchasing a special lead furnace. But an old cast iron pot and ladle works just as well. And you can pick them up at flea markets and garage sales for very little money.

Maybe you’re saying to yourself, “yeah, but, a hundred of these is a bunch.” Actually it’s not, particularly if you’re casting several sizes. You can go through them pretty quickly. If not, just think about getting together with a couple of buddies, to share the costs. Let’s say three of you go in on a mold. Your investment is only about $12, for an unlimited number of sinkers.

And, the fact is, you often can sell them to other fishermen as well. If you think fishermen who are used to paying $1.50-$2.00 each won’t jump at the chance of buying them for, say, 70 cents, then you don’t know fishermen very well. If you sell as few as 100 at that price then you’ve recovered your investment.

What about smaller sizes? Although the savings per sinker is nowhere near as dramatic, it’s still there. And nowadays there are molds that let you cast about any kind of weight you need, from bullet weights for plastic worms to downrigger weights for trolling.

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