Lead, tungsten and ice jig size
The weight of an ice jig is set by the job: it has to straighten the line and carry the spring bobber's movement down to the lure. The size at that weight is a matter of the metal — and that's where the whole practical difference between materials comes from.
Same weight, different size
A denser metal gives a smaller body at the same weight; a less dense one gives a bigger body. A tungsten ice jig is noticeably smaller than a lead one of the same weight, and a lead jig at that same weight looks bigger and falls more slowly.
What that means underwater
A small lure gets down through the water column faster and holds better in current, where a bulkier one gets swept away. A bigger one falls slower and stays in view longer, and in shallow, still water that's an advantage rather than a drawback. A general rundown of the metals is in the card on lead and its alternatives.
The cost of hardness
Tungsten is hard, and the edge of a through-hole in it cuts thin line faster than soft lead does. That's why a piece of tubing in the hole of a tungsten jig isn't optional — it's essential. Tungsten is also more brittle: a knock against the ice chips a corner off it, while lead on the same knock just dents.
What else replaces lead
Brass, steel and tin are all less dense than lead, so a lure made from them comes out bigger at the same weight. Where the bulk doesn't get in the way, the difference barely matters; where size spooks the fish, it's decisive.
What doesn't depend on the metal
The shape of the body, the angle of the point and how the line attaches have nothing to do with the material. A tungsten and a lead ice jig of the same shape hang the same way on line — they differ in size and fall speed, not in how they hang or pass on the spring bobber's movement.
How to tell them apart by touch
Lead is soft enough to leave a mark from a fingernail; tungsten isn't. It's the simplest check there is, needing no scale and no packaging — and it's the same softness that keeps lead in use longest in the smallest sinkers of all.
What the weight on the pack tells you
The weight only describes how much it straightens the line and how fast it falls. It says nothing about the size of the lure until you know the metal — which is exactly why the metal sits right next to the weight in an ice jig's description, not buried in a footnote.
What we don't cover here
We don't recommend which metal to pick: it depends on depth, current, and how much the fish reacts to size, and there's no proven rule here. And we don't give weights in grams — they're tied to a specific setup, not to the class of lure.