<h2>Pin Down the Predators</h2><p><em>Nail sinkers</em> got their name from their origins. Before dedicated <strong>weights</strong> in this shape existed, anglers used nails or sections of nails to weight soft plastics in a specific way. That worked well enough, but ordinary nails are made from steel and therefore have a relatively low density. Once nail sinkers <strong>made from lead or tungsten</strong> became available, the possibilities expanded considerably.</p><p>Both tungsten and lead have very high density, packing a lot of weight into a small volume. This makes it possible to produce very small, slim nails with comparatively high weights. You can insert them into small, very slender soft plastics without damaging the lure. Most nail sinkers have a pointed tip so you can push them in easily, along with a series of ridges that prevent them from sliding back out. This means you can fire your lures out with powerful casts without losing the nail sinker.</p><h2>How to Use Nail Sinkers</h2><p>Here are some of the ways nail sinkers can be put to use:</p><ul><li>on the <strong>Neko rig</strong>, weighting one end of the worm so it hangs down and drops to the bottom</li><li>inside a <strong>soft plastic jerk bait</strong>. Small pintail soft plastics work brilliantly on an offset hook as a mini soft jerk; the nail sinker sits in the belly as a balance weight</li><li>on the <strong>Spine rig</strong>, again as additional weight to make the soft plastic sink the way you want it to</li><li>on the <strong>Shallow rig</strong> as a keel weight in the belly of the soft lure to stabilise its action</li></ul><p>As you can see, there are plenty of uses for these unassuming little weights.</p>