How Fast Will A Lead Fishing Weight or Jig Sink In Water?

Written by Brian Silvestre in Weights

Understanding how fast your fishing weight or jig will sink once you cast your fishing line is very important. If you know how fast your fishing weight will sink, you can gauge when your bait is at the proper depth.

I’ve wondered this exact thing for some time!

So I spent my weekend working out the numbers to determine how fast a lead-based fishing weight or jig will sink in freshwater and saltwater.

Lead Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz27 seconds27 seconds
1/32 oz24 seconds24 seconds
1/16 oz21 seconds22 seconds
1/8 oz19 seconds19 seconds
3/16 oz18 seconds18 seconds
1/4 oz17 seconds17 seconds
3/8 oz16 seconds16 seconds
1/2 oz15 seconds15 seconds
3/4 oz14 seconds14 seconds
1 oz13 seconds14 seconds
2 oz12 seconds12 seconds
3 oz11 seconds11 seconds
4 oz11 seconds11 seconds
5 oz10 seconds10 seconds
6 oz10 seconds10 seconds
7 oz10 seconds10 seconds
8 oz9 seconds10 seconds
10 oz9 seconds9 seconds
12 oz9 seconds9 seconds

There is not much difference between freshwater and saltwater for the time it takes to sink 100 ft. The slight difference in time is due to saltwater being about 2.5% more dense than freshwater is because of its salt content. This higher density slows down the sinking speed of a fishing weight or jig, which is the main reason for the slight difference in times.

What If You Are Fishing At 100 Feet Deep

If you’re fishing at different depths other than 100 feet, then you are in luck. The sinking times listed above can scale linearly. Let’s go over some examples quickly to give you a quick idea of what I mean.

Example 1: Let’s say you’re doing saltwater fishing, and you’re using a 6oz to get to a depth of 250 feet. You want to know the approximate time it will take to reach that depth.

First, take your desired depth and divide it by 100 feet. 250 feet divided by 100 feet equals 2.5. Then take 2.5 and multiply it by 10 seconds, listed on the table above for saltwater and 6 oz weight. This will give you 25 seconds for the weight to sink to 250 ft.

Example 2: Let’s say you’re doing freshwater fishing, and you’re using a 1/4 oz jig to reach a depth of 30 feet.

First, take your desired depth and divide it by 100 feet. 30 feet divided by 100 feet equals 0.3. Then take 0.3 and multiply it by 17 seconds, listed on the table above for freshwater and 1/4 oz jig. This will give you 5 seconds for the weight to sink to 30 ft.

How Are These Times Determined?

Whenever I get a chance to geek out on numbers, I absolutely love it.

I determined these numbers by using physics, which accounts for the sinker’s buoyancy and drag forces slowing the sinker down as it falls.

What Are Sinking Times Of Alternate Fishing Weigth Materials?

The majority of fishing weights in the market today are made from lead which has been proven to impact the environment negatively. I actually wrote an article about how lead weights have impacted the environment if you want to learn more.

So if you’re interested in using sinkers or jigs made from other commonly used materials, then I worked the time it takes to sink 100 ft in freshwater and saltwater.

Time For Ceramic Sinkers to Sink 100 Feet

Ceramic Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz41 seconds41 seconds
1/32 oz36 seconds37 seconds
1/16 oz32 seconds33 seconds
1/8 oz29 seconds29 seconds
3/16 oz27 seconds27 seconds
1/4 oz26 seconds26 seconds
3/8 oz24 seconds24 seconds
1/2 oz23 seconds23 seconds
3/4 oz21 seconds22 seconds
1 oz20 seconds21 seconds
2 oz18 seconds18 seconds
3 oz17 seconds17 seconds
4 oz16 seconds16 seconds
5 oz16 seconds16 seconds
6 oz15 seconds15 seconds
7 oz15 seconds15 seconds
8 oz14 seconds15 seconds
10 oz14 seconds14 seconds
12 oz13 seconds14 seconds

Time For Bismuth Sinkers to Sink 100 Feet

Bismuth Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz28 seconds29 seconds
1/32 oz25 seconds26 seconds
1/16 oz23 seconds23 seconds
1/8 oz20 seconds20 seconds
3/16 oz19 seconds19 seconds
1/4 oz18 seconds18 seconds
3/8 oz17 seconds17 seconds
1/2 oz16 seconds16 seconds
3/4 oz15 seconds15 seconds
1 oz14 seconds14 seconds
2 oz13 seconds13 seconds
3 oz12 seconds12 seconds
4 oz11 seconds11 seconds
5 oz11 seconds11 seconds
6 oz11 seconds11 seconds
7 oz10 seconds10 seconds
8 oz10 seconds10 seconds
10 oz10 seconds10 seconds
12 oz9 seconds10 seconds

Time For Brass to Sink 100 Feet

Brass Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz30 seconds30 seconds
1/32 oz27 seconds27 seconds
1/16 oz24 seconds24 seconds
1/8 oz21 seconds22 seconds
3/16 oz20 seconds20 seconds
1/4 oz19 seconds19 seconds
3/8 oz18 seconds18 seconds
1/2 oz17 seconds17 seconds
3/4 oz16 seconds16 seconds
1 oz15 seconds15 seconds
2 oz13 seconds14 seconds
3 oz12 seconds13 seconds
4 oz12 seconds12 seconds
5 oz11 seconds12 seconds
6 oz11 seconds11 seconds
7 oz11 seconds11 seconds
8 oz11 seconds11 seconds
10 oz10 seconds10 seconds
12 oz10 seconds10 seconds

Time For Tungsten to Sink 100 Feet

Tungsten Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz22 seconds22 seconds
1/32 oz20 seconds20 seconds
1/16 oz17 seconds18 seconds
1/8 oz16 seconds16 seconds
3/16 oz15 seconds15 seconds
1/4 oz14 seconds14 seconds
3/8 oz13 seconds13 seconds
1/2 oz12 seconds13 seconds
3/4 oz12 seconds12 seconds
1 oz11 seconds11 seconds
2 oz10 seconds10 seconds
3 oz9 seconds9 seconds
4 oz9 seconds9 seconds
5 oz8 seconds9 seconds
6 oz8 seconds8 seconds
7 oz8 seconds8 seconds
8 oz8 seconds8 seconds
10 oz7 seconds8 seconds
12 oz7 seconds7 seconds

Time For Tin to Sink 100 Feet

Tin Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz23 seconds23 seconds
1/32 oz21 seconds21 seconds
1/16 oz18 seconds19 seconds
1/8 oz16 seconds17 seconds
3/16 oz15 seconds15 seconds
1/4 oz15 seconds15 seconds
3/8 oz14 seconds14 seconds
1/2 oz13 seconds13 seconds
3/4 oz12 seconds12 seconds
1 oz12 seconds12 seconds
2 oz10 seconds10 seconds
3 oz10 seconds10 seconds
4 oz9 seconds9 seconds
5 oz9 seconds9 seconds
6 oz9 seconds9 seconds
7 oz8 seconds8 seconds
8 oz8 seconds8 seconds
10 oz8 seconds8 seconds
12 oz8 seconds8 seconds

Time For Steel to Sink 100 Feet

Steel Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz32 seconds32 seconds
1/32 oz28 seconds29 seconds
1/16 oz25 seconds26 seconds
1/8 oz22 seconds23 seconds
3/16 oz21 seconds21 seconds
1/4 oz20 seconds20 seconds
3/8 oz19 seconds19 seconds
1/2 oz18 seconds18 seconds
3/4 oz17 seconds17 seconds
1 oz16 seconds16 seconds
2 oz14 seconds14 seconds
3 oz13 seconds13 seconds
4 oz13 seconds13 seconds
5 oz12 seconds12 seconds
6 oz12 seconds12 seconds
7 oz11 seconds12 seconds
8 oz11 seconds11 seconds
10 oz11 seconds11 seconds
12 oz10 seconds11 seconds

Time For Stone to Sink 100 Feet

Stone Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz51 seconds52 seconds
1/32 oz45 seconds46 seconds
1/16 oz40 seconds41 seconds
1/8 oz36 seconds37 seconds
3/16 oz34 seconds34 seconds
1/4 oz32 seconds33 seconds
3/8 oz30 seconds31 seconds
1/2 oz29 seconds29 seconds
3/4 oz27 seconds27 seconds
1 oz25 seconds26 seconds
2 oz23 seconds23 seconds
3 oz21 seconds22 seconds
4 oz20 seconds21 seconds
5 oz19 seconds20 seconds
6 oz19 seconds19 seconds
7 oz18 seconds19 seconds
8 oz18 seconds18 seconds
10 oz17 seconds18 seconds
12 oz17 seconds17 seconds

Time For Terpene Resin Putty to Sink 100 Feet

Terpene Resin Putty Sinker / Jig WeightTime To Sink 100 feet in Freshwater Time To Sink 100 feet in Saltwater
1/64 oz28 seconds29 seconds
1/32 oz25 seconds25 seconds
1/16 oz22 seconds23 seconds
1/8 oz20 seconds20 seconds
3/16 oz19 seconds19 seconds
1/4 oz18 seconds18 seconds
3/8 oz17 seconds17 seconds
1/2 oz16 seconds16 seconds
3/4 oz15 seconds15 seconds
1 oz14 seconds14 seconds
2 oz13 seconds13 seconds
3 oz12 seconds12 seconds
4 oz11 seconds11 seconds
5 oz11 seconds11 seconds
6 oz10 seconds11 seconds
7 oz10 seconds10 seconds
8 oz10 seconds10 seconds
10 oz10 seconds10 seconds
12 oz9 seconds9 seconds

Time to Weigh In

I hope these tables help give you a sense of how fast your sinker or jig will sink in freshwater and saltwater and is another tool you can use to improve your fishing game.

Happy Fishing and Tight Lines

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