I have a friend who owns a fly fishing store; he imports tungsten beads in bulk and sells them to fly tyers locally and around the country. He recently sent out notices that tungsten prices have recently risen over 500%, buy them while you can.

I have not needed to buy any tungsten products lately for bass fishing, and am curious what our forum members have experienced in prices of this product.

I'll try to avoid getting into the politics of it, but in the wake of all the trade "negotiations" last year, China began implementing strict export controls on many critical metals deemed important to their national security, including tungsten.

Like you said, probably doesn't hurt to stock up on the essentials.

Academy still has their 10 packs of tungsten weights for $15 in 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, and 3/8 oz. Their bigger sizes are more expensive but that's the case for every other brand.

Thanks, guys, for the heads-up. I just ordered 30 tungsten weights from Academy.

Prices on EVERYTHING are skyrocketing. They were warned.

While we are on the subject, I'm going to ask another question. Are there different qualities of tungsten, and is it possible for a product which is labeled as tungsten to be only part tungsten? My suspicious mind has wondered about this before?

The Bait Monkey was bugging me to buy some more tungsten weights. Before moving from cart to purchase, I asked the Monkey how I managed to catch bass before tungsten weights were available. He told me I went skunked often before I started using tungsten. I reminded him I still get skunked often. His answer was that I only get skunked now because I haven't listened to his advise regarding expensive Japanese and custom glide baits.

Before looking once more at all of the expensive glide baits online, I remembered how many fish I caught, and how much fun I had when all I fished with was a worm and bobber,long before my friendship with the Bait Monkey began. I immediately turned off my computer and started looking through my fishing gear for cheap plastic bobbers.

The Monkey always starts crying whenever I get sentimental about my childhood fishing days before we met. Now I'm back to ordering the tungsten weights I can't live without. It breaks my heart to see an adult monkey cry.

1 hour ago, Tackleholic said:

While we are on the subject, I'm going to ask another question. Are there different qualities of tungsten, and is it possible for a product which is labeled as tungsten to be only part tungsten? My suspicious mind has wondered about this before?

I'm not sure if it's possible or not. The main thing I'm concerned about is tungsten not having an insert and being smooth through the middle.

I buy all my tungsten from Sieberts. Mike’s day to day prices are great and he still has his worm weights on sale.

19 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'm not sure if it's possible or not. The main thing I'm concerned about is tungsten not having an insert and being smooth through the middle.

Yes, there are differences. Tungsten by itself is a very dense metal and has properties that make it difficult to retain its shape as it cools. As hard as pure tungsten is. it has a tendency to become brittle after cooling. There are several formulas different manufacturers use to make tungsten alloys. The higher quality tungsten is generally 95-97% tungsten with a 3-5% mixture of nickel and or iron.

Lesser quality tungsten or tungsten compounds remain brittle and have poor tensile strength. JIgheads or jigs made of lower quality tungsten/ tungsten compounds that have collar on the shank, are prone to shattering with sufficient vibration of the hook or when the shank has enough pressure on it to flex or bend slightly. As much as I like Keitechs products the micro jigs and super round jigheads shatter often.

Tungsten naturally has a reflective surface. Unfortunately paint doesn't bind to it very well and has a tendency to chip very easily. Although it cost a little more money to produce, heating tungsten to extreme temps and immediate quenching in very cold water will produce a matte finish that is incredibly resistant to chipping or scratching. I think you can also add some kind of powder during production, that results in a matte finish.

Being that tungsten is incredibly hard, the interior of tungsten bullet weights that lack an insert can damage line easily if there is a burr or sharp edge that wasn't polished out.

Weights with inserts dont translate vibration as efficiently vs weights without inserts. I've had a few weights that damaged line, although it very rare, like 3 weights out of hundreds. 2 of them were from the same brand, but I cant quite remember which one it was. The shop only carried a few brands and I know i wasn't a R2S or Picasso, pretty sure it was Eco Pro or TD.

In terms of quality, there quite a few good companies. I really liked Swagger and was saddened to see they are no longer available on TW. I think Reins and Picasso have the best tungsten Ive used. Never had any issues and the weights are exactly the weight they advertise.

A bunch of companies offer tungsten with inserts. I know Picasso does and I think Reins all have inserts. You can even make your own inserts. There are a bunch of videos that show you how.

I just stocked up from OM Fishing Sinkers. Prices were still pretty good. And I got them in about a week.

I heard that the price hike was coming last year but didn't imagine it would be this much. My buddy in Japan said the same pack of jig heads I like are $4.25 there and from Tackle Warehouse they are now $12.

It would be cheaper to just use silver. I'm going back to lead after my supply becomes depleted.

7 hours ago, scaleface said:

It would be cheaper to just use silver. I'm going back to lead after my supply becomes depleted.

Unfortunately, that’s probably where I’m headed. Since getting into bass fishing in 2017. I’ve never used an actual lead worm weight. Jigs sure but, not for t-rigging

7 hours ago, scaleface said:

I'm going back to lead after my supply becomes depleted.

Those in states with a lead ban are gonna have to go with steel.

Me? As infrequently as I use worm-weights, I think I got enough tungsten to last me a lifetime (my lifetime anyway)

17 hours ago, Columbia Craw said:

I buy all my tungsten from Sieberts.

^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

16 hours ago, Big Swimbait said:

I just stocked up from OM Fishing Sinkers. Prices were still pretty good. And I got them in about a week.

How bad were the tariff charges on your order?

Wow, I didn't realize how big of an impact this might have. So many of the tungsten weights on TW are out of stock. I went to order some Beast Coast Tungsten 'Lil Magnums cause they're my favorite jig....12 DOLLARS? They were literally 6.99 last month!

Ordered some essentials from Siebert since their prices are still reasonable, but man this is going to hurt.

On 4/7/2026 at 3:24 PM, Big Swimbait said:

I just stocked up from OM Fishing Sinkers. Prices were still pretty good. And I got them in about a week.

I buy from them. They had to raise their prices recently, but still good deals. Wish they would get more weedless ball head jigs in...they've been OOS for a year it seens.seems.

I've got quite a bit of tungsten at a great price. I'm not sure how long I can hold this price.

https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/categories/tungsten-tackle--weights-punch-rigs-etc?page=1

I know of a fishing brand that's not known in the States for fishing rods that was going to introduce a high-end but pricey line of rods. Then the tariffs hit and jacked the prices up even more. So they 86'd them for now.

Things like this are happening all across the board now. New products are being put on hold, and some existing products are being pulled from production.

This means fewer jobs and more layoffs, combined with higher inflation, which means less spending. It's a vicious cycle.

Bait monkey may die of hunger; poor so and so.

10 hours ago, Glenn said:

I know of a fishing brand that's not known in the States for fishing rods that was going to introduce a high-end but pricey line of rods. Then the tariffs hit and jacked the prices up even more. So they 86'd them for now.

Things like this are happening all across the board now. New products are being put on hold, and some existing products are being pulled from production.

This means fewer jobs and more layoffs, combined with higher inflation, which means less spending. It's a vicious cycle.

The consumer is always the one who suffers with trade wars and tariffs. The reality is it will get much worse before it gets better.

On 4/8/2026 at 7:44 AM, ike8120 said:

How bad were the tariff charges on your order?

Sorry, I missed your question. No additional tariffs.