Losing sinkers will not only amount to a significant loss of money, but will be immensely frustrating throughout your supposedly relaxing fishing session and will cause damage to the environment by not only littering but also leaching toxic chemicals into the marine environment; so for everyone’s sake please consider learning more about how to prevent gear loss.

Anglers are lost for choice when faced with the plethora of weight shapes and sizes available to them, however one should consult with an expert/local angling shop assistant prior to their purchase as there are several factors to consider such as:

• The environment you intend to fish in (is it rocky, sandy or mixed?) including the depth at which you want to fish and the topography of the bottom of the water. (For seaweed fields consider using longline, skinny or tear weights- these shapes make it easier to pass through the algae without getting caught. For fine sand areas between rocks consider hook-type sinkers and plain leads whilst fishing on a sandy beach as it will roll around and find indentations and gullies which hold fish . In rocky areas, a leader should not have edges, hooks, or any other grip, consider using a running ball-shaped sinker to minimize the risk of snags; if you use a plain lead in an area full of snags, you will see it roll around until it eventually ends up in a snag).
•  The rod you are using
• The weather condition (on windy days you will want to choose weights that have some type of grip so as to cling to the bottom and avoid displacements).
• The line to be used in each case (a heavy lead on a thin line will eventually split it and if the sinker is too light then it will float in the water. Similarly, if it is too heavy it will get down to the bottom and will get caught in rocks/seaweeds/junk present at the bottom). 

You may also be interested in researching various alternatives to store-bought weights, do-it-yourself kits and sustainable/ eco-friendly variants.