Stonz are literally stones, made into fishing sinkers by an English company. 

The inventiveness of anglers continues to amaze as new concepts constantly keep popping up in the fish-fogged brains of anglers around the globe.

Some of the latest surprises are simple but hopefully useful …

Stonz from Pallatrax, an English company, are exactly what they sound like, small round stones that include line attachments or thru-holes, turning them into totally lead-free, environmentally-friendly fishing weights. 

This is an idea that’s been around since Og the cave man used a rock to weight down his bone hook baited with a chunk of mastodon meat, but it was lost long ago when metal smelting arrived.

Stone is of course a lot less dense than lead or tungsten, so the Stonz weights are bigger than the metal alternatives at a given weight, but since they’re intended only for bait fishing, the added size will make no difference to the fish—they’re only seeing another stone on bottom.

They’re available in sizes from 1 ounce to 5.5 ounces, in polished or natural finish

The same company also markets Gripz, which are a sort of half-way alternative between conventional barbed hooks and easy-release barbless designs. 

The Gripz hooks have a series of small ridges where the usual barb is located, and the company says these will stay in a fish’s jaw better than a barbless hook during the fight, but then can be removed easier than a conventional barbed hook, assuring successful release of fish you don’t want for the table. (They’d also be a lot easier to get out of a finger, for those of you who have enjoyed that experience a time or two.)

Gripz are available in multiple single styles including wide gap from 16 to 2/0, and in trebles from 4 to 8. 

I’ve been testing them on the bass here in north Alabama recently, and they work well on treble hook lures like the Rebel Pop-R and the Berkley Flicker Shad, with no noticeable difference in the landing ratio. 

On single treble hook lures, not so much—I like flutter spoon fishing at this time of year, and even with conventional barbed trebles these lures often come unbuttoned, but it’s worse with the Gripz. 

I’d guess with bait hooks—which is the company’s primary deal—they’d work just fine because fish often take natural baits deeper. I don’t think they would work for fishing live shad or sardines, which are tough to keep on even conventional hooks because they’re so active, but should be fine for all dead baits and prepared baits like catfish and carp mixes as well as Fish Bites and Fish Gum. 

They are dead sharp, and the reduced barb area makes for easy penetration with a very light hook set. Details on these and the Stonz sinkers at https://www.pallatrax.co.uk.

Also this week we had a look at very inventive line cutter button on Magellan Outdoors Jacob Wheeler Angler Tech Shorts and Angler Hybrid Shorts, both sold at Academy Sports + Outdoors. 

Magellan Outdoors, sold at Academy Sports + Outdoors, has two versions of fishing shorts that include a line-clipper button.

The clever design allows you to slip the line into a crevice in the waist button, give a pull and nip it off clean, braid, mono or fluorocarbon. The clipper is inset so you’re not going to nick your hands on it, but it’s always there and handy when you need it. They’re available in sizes from 30” to 44”.

The shorts are made of nylon/spandex, light and comfortable as well as quick drying.

While you’re still going to want a nipper for clipping off knot ends, the button is a plus for when you just need to clip a line and you can’t reach your nipper. The shorts are around $45; https://www.academy.com/p/magellan-outdoors-mens-pro-jacob-wheeler-angler-hybrid-shorts-7-in.

The Rapala Claptail adds noise to the spinning tail to make an impossible-to-ignore topwater lure. (Rapala)

Last but not least, for those of you who enjoy lures like the River2Sea Whopper Plopper and Berkley’s Choppo, the new impossible-to-ignore Rapala Claptail will likely be a winner. This thing sounds like the 1950 Chevy 3100 that was my first truck sounded like going down a hunting trail, rattling fenders and all. 

When the bass are in an aggressive mode—maybe around shad schools in fall or post spawn along shorelines—this thing should be a killer, though we have not tried it yet. It’s pricey, at about $22; https://www.rapala.com/us_en/rapala.