I have amassed a large collection of soft plastic lures over the years, of many sizes and colours. This is partly because they are cheaper then hard lures, but mostly it’s due to their huge versatility and options for customization. A single soft plastic can be rigged for effective use in most conditions and ground; no level of the water column is off limits.
One product for customising soft plastics, that has caught my attention, is the Decoy CS-2 Plus Sinker. This is a unique system for weighting wacky or offset hooks, consisting of lead split shot style weights, designed with a wide enough mouth to fit onto the shank of a hook. They are sold in 0.6, 0.9 and 1.3 gram sizes – the size pictured being 0.9 gram. These light weight options provide a good balance between weightlessness and a bit of keel, to keep the soft plastic running straight.
These sinkers can be crimped with pliers onto any section of an offset or wacky hook, opening up a world of weight and size combinations that can’t be bought from manufacturers. Not only this, but depending on the position of the sinker, the movement of your soft plastic can be altered to suit different depths and retrieves.
I believe that the Plus Sinkers are best used on swimbait hooks, with screw locks, as you can remove the hook from the lure without the attached weight tearing the plastic. Also, there is then the option to attach the weight just under the hook eye.
Pictured below is the 5″ Deps Sakamata Shad on a 4/0 swimbait hook to demonstrate the options you get with the 0.9 gram Plus Sinker.
With the weight just under the hook eye, you can imitate the faster, nose down fall of a light jig head, meaning that this configuration is optimal in deeper water or when bottom bouncing.
With the weight in a rear position, the lure will slide backwards when paused, similar to the effect of the Decoy Back Switcher hook.
With the weight at the centre of the hook, the fall will be horizontal and therefore slower, suiting shallow water better.
One of the downsides of this system is the toxic lead construction, but this is unfortunately necessary as the sinker needs to be crushed onto the shank to stay put. The other is that they are difficult to remove from your hooks once crimped.
Aside from these points, these sinkers by Decoy offer a lot of utility and customisation for your soft lures, and therefore I can see myself using them a lot in the future.
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