At first, the comparison between fluorescent and tungsten may seem simple, but such a decision can impact the work environment, home environment, product quality, even financial situation. When comparing fluorescent and tungsten lighting, important factors to consider include location, spacing, safety and cost.

Instructions

1
Consider the location and purpose of the light in question. Is it a smaller room or a large, open area? Will people be reading and studying under the light or moving actively? If a work-based environment, is the location a photo studio or a place that works with details and colors? Does the light require a dimmer?

2
Consider the output and safety of the light. Fluorescent light bulbs emit 90 to 95 percent of their energy as light, while tungsten light bulbs emit 90 to 95 percent of their energy as heat. Will the lights be used in wide, open spaces? Will the lights be near flammable materials or papers? Are the lights recessed and potentially prone to overheating?

3
Consider cost and energy efficiency. Fluorescent lights will always be more energy efficient than tungsten, however, there may be a cost involved to make a fixture fluorescent-friendly. Additionally, take note of how long the light and location will be in use; the long-term operating cost of fluorescent lights is less than that of tungsten, but in the short term tungsten may be less expensive.

Tips & Warnings
If cost is a major factor, crunch some numbers to figure out which light is more financially feasible. For instance, if you are renting a small office for five years, using fluorescent lighting may be more cost effective. If you rent the same small office for one year, on the other hand, tungsten may work better. Remember to include the cost of any fixtures as well as modifications necessary to accommodate those fixtures.

If the decision comes down to the issue of safety, choose fluorescent. With a significantly lower operating temperature, fluorescent lights are far less likely to cause burns or fires if the fixture is knocked over as well as less likely to overheat when used in smaller, contained spaces.

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The fishing jig is a simple lure, but extremely effective in a variety of scenarios for an array of fish in both fresh and saltwater. Jigs consist of a hook with a weighted head that gives it enough bulk to drop down to where fish are. Often adorned with hair, feathers, plastic, rubber or live bait, the fishing jig is available in different sizes, colors and shapes, notes Learning How to Fish.

Jig Hooks
The hook lengths and sizes vary on jigs, with the hook's eye typically bent forward as much as 90 degrees. Hook colors include red, gold, black and bronze, while the length of a jig hook's shank -- the part of the hook that goes from the eye to where the hook begins to bend -- differs as well. Long-shanked hooks allow the use of soft plastic baits attached to the jig, while anglers favor shorter shanks when putting live bait such as a minnow or grubs on their jig.

Jig Heads
The portion of the jig that causes it to sink into the depths when you cast it out is the jig head, usually composed of lead or tungsten. The jig head, positioned at the top part of the hook where the eye is, has a collar that extends partway down the shaft of the hook. Some are straight and smooth, while others feature a small barb that holds any plastic baits attached to the jig in place. Colors vary on jigs, with the clarity of the water often dictating whether you employ a brightly colored jig or a darker one.

Weights
One of the most important aspects of the jig bait is its weight. The jig must sink through the water to where the fish are, but not so quickly that it frightens the fish or causes them to lose interest in the jig bait as a potential meal. Anglers such as ice fishermen use lighter jigs, between 1/32 of an oz. and 1/8 of an oz., for catching species like bluegills and crappies through holes in the ice. They slowly flutter these jigs until a fish strikes them. The largest, heaviest jigs target fish in deeper waters such as striped bass and lake trout, with weights of the jigs up to 2 full oz. The depth of the water, the wind conditions and any current are factors in determining what size jig to tie on your line.

Adornments
When an angler uses a jig adorned with tinsel, soft plastic, silicone, hair or some other feature, the idea is to try to replicate aquatic creatures fish might dine upon. These adornments also reduce the rate at which a jig will sink in the water, allowing the fish a good, long view of it as it makes its way downward. Adornments make a jig look almost lifelike to a fish. For example, a soft plastic jig mimics such forage foods as grubs, crayfish, minnows or leaches. A plastic replica of such a creature, available in multiple shapes and colors, covers the jig.

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Tungsten is a steel-gray, heavy metal -- chemical symbol "W", atomic number 74, and atomic weight of 183.85. It was isolated in 1783 and originally named wolfram. It's hard and dense, with the highest melting point of any metal (6,192 degrees Fahrenheit) and greatest tensile strength of all metals at temperatures above 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. These properties are the reasons for most commercial uses of tungsten.

Pure Tungsten
The glowing filament of incandescent light bulbs is made of pure tungsten. Tungsten also is in the starter filament of fluorescent bulbs and filaments of cathode ray tubes. These applications require great tensile strength at very high temperatures. Filament wire represents the single biggest use of tungsten. Pure tungsten also is made into heating elements for electric furnaces used in smelting plants and foundries. Pure tungsten also forms the electron beam target in the vacuum tubes producing X-rays for medical and industrial imaging. The pure metal also is used for lead-free fishing weights, lead-free shotgun pellets, welding rods and in high-tech weighted darts used for sporting competitions.

Tungsten Carbide
Most things made of tungsten are actually made with tungsten alloys. For instance, tungsten alloyed with carbon forms incredibly hard tungsten carbide. This material is used in golf clubs, drill bits, grinding burrs, lathe cutting bits, saw blades, cutting wheels, milling bits, wire pulling dies, water-jet cutter nozzles and armor-piercing artillery shells. It's also used for jewelry, mainly rings. Tungsten carbide can take textured finishes or a high-gloss silvery polish. Because tungsten carbide is so hard, the finish resists dings, scratches and abrasion. It's almost as heavy as gold, so tungsten carbide rings have a satisfactory "heft" when worn.

Other Tungsten Alloys
Tungsten is alloyed with various combinations of iron, copper, nickel, cobalt and/or molybdenum. The most common metallic tungsten alloys combine 90-95 percent tungsten with nickel and iron. Adding cobalt to the alloy enhances strength and ductility. Replacing the iron with cobalt greatly enhances wear resistance. Replacing the nickel-iron with copper produces a strong, wear-resistant alloy with good electrical conductivity. Adding molybdenum to the nickel-iron mix improves strength but reduces ductility. All metallic tungsten alloys are very dense.

Tungsten Alloy Products
Metallic tungsten alloys are about as effective as lead for blocking radiation, with the advantage of being non-toxic. Tungsten alloys are used to make radiation shields and containers for the radioactive materials used in certain medical imaging devices. Tungsten alloys also are used for balancing weights in computer disk drives and racing cars, inertial dampers for aircraft control surfaces, fragmentation artillery shells, bunker-busting bombs, concrete-piercing bullets and wear-resistant electrical switch contacts in high-voltage equipment.

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Over the past decade, there have been several "revolutionary" innovations that have made their way into the world of bass fishing; Innovations such as Extra Wide Gap hooks, fluorocarbon fishing line, and life-like swimbaits, to name only a few. But perhaps one of the most significant additions to our sport, especially for finesse fishing enthusiasts, was the introduction of tungsten fishing weights.

Like most, I was absolutely shocked when I saw how much these new tungsten sinkers cost. "These new tungsten sinkers are nothing more than tackle manufacturers attempt at re-inventing the wheel," I told myself. "There is no way that people are going to pay this much money for something that can't possibly be THAT much better than plain lead sinkers." Although it took a while, I eventually realized that I was very wrong on both points.

While my "dinosaur mentality" (as some of today's Young Guns like to call it) initially prevented me from jumping on-board what I perceived was a money wasting tungsten weight bandwagon, I soon came to realize that my reluctance to do so put me at a distinct disadvantage when fishing against guys who were more than willing to fork out (about) a buck apiece for their tungsten sinkers. I eventually learned that there were several huge advantages to using tungsten sinkers instead of lead sinkers. Tungsten, as we now know, is considerably denser than lead, which means that we get the same weight, but at nearly half the size of lead. This alone is a huge advantage in that you will hang up far less with a tungsten sinker than with a lead sinker because of its smaller size. This equates to more casts over the course of a day (i.e. less time wasted re-tying); which will likely mean more fish, as well. Or, as my father taught me at a very young age: "You're not going to catch any fish if you don't have your bait in the water".

Another huge advantage to using tungsten sinkers is that, because tungsten is a very hard material, it is extremely sensitive and can actually help you "feel" what the bottom is made of and what your bait is bumping into, such as rocks, brush, mud, etc. And if all of this isn't enough, using tungsten weights will (or at least should) keep environmentalists off our backs, as tungsten is far more "environmentally friendly" than is lead, which will probably be banned entirely some day.

When tungsten sinkers first made their way onto the pegs in our favorite tackle stores (actually they were usually locked up in display cases next to the high-end reels), we were more or less held hostage by the one or two companies that manufactured them. I say this because many of these early tungsten sinkers were junk, however, if you wanted tungsten sinkers, you had no choice but to buy theirs. These early sinkers had small plastic inserts in them, which frequently fell out. When this happened, the sharp edge of the sinker would occasionally fray or even cut your line. This meant a lot of lost sinkers and frequent re-tying (good for them - bad for us) or worse - lost fish. In addition to this, the holes in these weights were extremely small, which made pegging them with a toothpick or a Peg-It nearly impossible (something that I frequently do when flipping or pitching plastic worms). I also had problems with their dropshot weights. The line clips would frequently cut my line while attaching the weight to my line. I even had a number of these line clips come completely out of the weight while casting. This REALLY sucks at a buck (or more) a piece! I mention these things in the past tense, but a couple of these companies are still in business making tungsten weights today and have made little or no improvements to them.

Tru-Tungsten Weights

Just for kicks, I did a little research into the Tru-Tungsten company and discovered that ALL of their products are 97% tungsten, the highest percentage available on the market. Some tungsten weight manufacturers use as little as 70% tungsten (or less), which accounts for their larger size.

In addition to tungsten weights, Tru-Tungsten also has a new line of jig heads called "Ikey Head Jigs" designed by (you guessed it) former BASSMASTER Classic champion Mike Icaonelli. They also make jigs, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits, all of which (of course) have tungsten heads. They will soon be releasing a new tungsten dropshot weight designed by defending B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and Tru-Tungsten pro staffer Aaron Martens.

While having both Aaron Martens and Mike Icaonelli on your pro staff is a dream come true for any sponsor, the rest of the Tru-Tungsten pro staff ain't too shabby either. Joining the country's hottest two sticks and forming what can arguably be described as the "Dream Team" of professional bass fishing are Larry Nixon, Denny Brauer, Gerald Swindle, Jason Quinn, Peter T, Marty Stone, Ken Cook, and California's own Gary Dobyns, Jared Lintner, Matt Newman, and Shaun Bailey. With a batting order like this, and with a full line of great products, it is easy to see why Tru-Tungsten is gaining momentum and rapidly becoming the largest manufacturer of tungsten fishing products in the world.

By Ron Cervenka

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