I've found a way to almost completely end snagging your weight on the bottom, then having to rerig when you break it off. Lots of people punch a hole in their pencil lead, then clip this hole to a swivel at the end of their main line. I used to do this as well--and lost lots of gear when snagging the weight broke the main line off. Here is my new setup---tie a 6" piece of leader to the swivel at the end of your main line, right next to where you tie your leader. Now, use hollow core pencil lead (I use 3/16", cuz it's thinner. You'll see why in a sec), and slide a piece of the lead up on the 6" leader. Now, pinch it tight at both ends. You're probably saying "That's not new!" So far, you're right. Even just this setup works well, cuz the weight will pull off of the leader if it gets hung up, and nothing else breaks or needs to be rerigged. Now for the new part (at least to me it was a new idea)---pinch your pencil lead completely flat the entire length of it!!! It will now fit through those small cracks in the rocks that used to hang it up!! But, I have one more trick to add to this. If you are going to use, say, a 1" piece of lead, cut it into 4 pieces instead of using 1 big piece. Attatch all 4 pieces, one right after another, the same way as described above, and pinch them ALL flat. You now have a very skinny weight setup, that ALSO PIVOTS in 3 places!!!! This works well in preventing your weight from wrapping itself a million times around your main line or leader (the pivots help destroy the momentum of the swinging weight), but it also allows your weight to "snake" it's way out of 99% of the snags it encounters. Give the Snake a try, and let me know what you think, or any improvements you might come up with. In over 2 weeks of fishing the Carbon almost everyday, I've only lost 1 rig due to snagging the bottom.

Potaire

Sound cool, kinda like the poor mans slinky? Thanks for sharing. Might give it a shot next time I'm in the snag pile.

Leave about a 3" gap between the swivel and the lead. This prevents the swivel from getting hung. Also, try doubling up on the lead line. The trick here is to spin both lines between both thumbs and forefingers and spiral them together like a polypro rope. Then carefully crimp on the first lead piece without losing the spiralled part between the swivel eye and the lead. Do this part at home. Play add-on on the river.

Hey, what an eye opener. Not the whole setup, i mean the part about cutting the lead into 4 peices. Great idea. Now all the lead doesn't fall off at once in a snag.....hmmmm

Exactly, FFF. That was another bonus I forgot to mention--if you lose anything, it is only the very end segment. It is also VERY quick and easy to add/subtract weight with this setup.

i just got done makin some of these setups and plan to use em tomorrow ill let ya know how they work for me. one downside is that they take a while to make so pre make em.

TTT

if you want to drift with bare chunks of lead, why not just crimp split shot flat onto the dropper line??? it would make it a whole lot easier than threading little sections of hollow core and quicker to add/delete weight as the conditions change throughout the day. another plus is that the shot is round and not square like the sections of pencil lead when they are flattened.

hey, better yet, why not just take that shot and slip it into some parachute cord?? then it would really slither over those rocks and rarely hang-up...oh, wait a sec...thats already been done, nevermind

Teen--after doing it a few times, it shouldn't take ya more than a minute to make the whole setup from scratch. I have lead, pliers, and leader in my pocket, and do it right in the middle of the river. The tough part is making sure you don't squeeze the hole in the hollow core shut when you're cutting the lead. I scribe a cut around the outside diameter of the lead with my pliers, then wiggle the piece back and forth with my fingers till it breaks off. If your hollow core ain't hollow, the rest of the operation is going to be rather difficult! :p

Hohwaiian--Yes, the gap between the lead and swivel is a good idea. Although I've had no problems with the lead hanging up on the swivel without a gap, the gap does keep your corky a little higher off the bottom (in theory). But I'm not following your reason for doubling up the lead leader. You certainly DON'T want your lead leader stronger than your main line..if you encounter some strange situation where your whole lead setup is snagged, you want the lead leader to break before your main line does. Please explain.

Stifler--I thought about the split shot awhile back, but it is way more expensive than pencil lead (per pound), and I don't think ya could get it as flat (maybe the tiny ones you could, but you'd have to use 10 million of them in fast water). Not sure what ya mean about the parachute thing. Are you refering to the old technique of putting the weight inside of surgical tubing? I've tried that, and it never seemed to work all that great for me. I still got hung up, and then the tubing would rip off of the swivel and I'd have to start over. Took just as long to rig up as what I do now, plus you need the tubing. To each his own I reckon'. :p

psst... i can show ya a lil trick that ends all those little aches and pains... cut a 2" chunk of surgical tubing and put it on your mainline BEFORE your swivel. next cut a 2 inch chunk of lead line(not the hollow), spit in your surgical tubing in the field and simply slip your lead line into the tubing against your mainline just about 1 inch and adjust it 3 inches above your snap swivel. after you install your lead, pull on your line to make it lay straight against the lead in the tubing. This works VERY well for those snaggy spots and ends the aggrevation of losing swivels, and your bait plus its auto adjustable up and down your mainline for deep and shallow spots. we all snag, and i've learned, that its much better to simply replace a 2 inch section of lead rather than the lead, rubber tubing, swivel, leader and bait. you WILL spend more time fishing and LESS time rigging. try it and let me know how brilliant it worked for you. now git ta fishing! you can thank me later.

psst... i can show ya a lil trick that ends all those little aches and pains... cut a 2" chunk of surgical tubing and put it on your mainline BEFORE your swivel. next cut a 2 inch chunk of lead line(not the hollow), spit in your surgical tubing in the field and simply slip your lead line into the tubing against your mainline just about 1 inch and adjust it 3 inches above your snap swivel. after you install your lead, pull on your line to make it lay straight against the lead in the tubing. This works VERY well for those snaggy spots and ends the aggrevation of losing swivels, and your bait plus its auto adjustable up and down your mainline for deep and shallow spots. we all snag, and i've learned, that its much better to simply replace a 2 inch section of lead rather than the lead, rubber tubing, swivel, leader and bait. you WILL spend more time fishing and LESS time rigging. try it and let me know how brilliant it worked for you. now git ta fishing! you can thank me later. click the link below for a picture of how it should look. http://www.members.aol.com/crappienibbles/lead.jpg
[img]http://www.members.aol.com/crappienibbles/lead.jpg [/img]

Silvercast--I tried your setup at Barrier Damn, and it worked GREAT!! I needed a lot of weight to get out in the fast flow, and with that much weight my poor lil' snake woulda' looked more like a Python. With your setup I had not a single snag, and could clear the river and land on the far side with my spinning reel (which I accidently did when I set down the baitcaster and picked up the spinner). I do have one improvement to add. Don't let the lead poke out of the tubing on the top (closer to pole) of this setup. My leader got hung up in the crack between the main line and the lead on many casts. I solved the problem by pulling the tubing farther up, 'til it completely covered all the lead on the top of your setup. No more problems. Thanks for sharing your setup with us. :p

Potaire

T.T John Steinbeck indeed... the greatest American writer ever

Potaire, take about 12" of 15lb line and run it through the swivel eye. Then grab both line ends between respective forefingers and thumbs and start twisting. What will happen is the line will spiral with the swivel centered at the middle. Ironically I developed this setup specifically for Barrier. The reason I started using heavier leadline (I typically use 10lb main here) is that the rig is so snag-resistant that I was losing more lead to the leadline wearing down, so I upped the poundage and doubled it. This rig slides well over those flat, round rock there and outfishes slinkies.

PS how's the fishin been down there?

Hoh--That's impressive that you would break the dropper line off before losing your weight to a snag. Good deal. Only been to Barrier twice (Mon & Tue) this year. Still lots of Kings--looking rather old, however. In fact, that's all I saw was Kings. People hooking 'em left and right, out in the fast current.

Potaire