Which do you perfer? Sliding weight or stationary. Thanks to all who reply. Sharp Hooks.

My favorit set up is a float and split shot with an 11' foot rod and a center pin. for bottom bounceing I would go with the slideing rig I dont think the fish can feel it as much. Any way tight lines and wet nets

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This is my first season chasing Steelies so you are not getting any sage advice here, but I started with stationary pencil lead and never detected a bite. Have had two hook-ups after switching to sliding slinky.
Tight Lines...

Stationery. You rarely need more than a half inch of lead.

Most of the time I run a slider with a longer than average leader (4-6'). With the slider you can still feel the fish take with the longer leader. Longer leaders allow your presentation to move around rocks where the fish are laying, plus the fish can see up, not down. I also believe the longer leader allows the presentation to waft and wobble more, attracting the fishes attention.

I only use a fixed when I'm throwing eggs which tend to get caught in the wind, making the slider run way up your main line. Also use a fixed when I'm free spooling, doesn't get snagged up as easily. Tight Lines

My opinion ... fixed ... allows you more easily fish pockets, and freespooling is much more easily accomplished on a fixed rig (and this is something you should almost always be doing).

I like a fixed weight. I think it sinks quicker and allows you to get a longer drift through the strike zone. I think sliding weights don't get down quick enough and even though you might feel a take easier, you have to make alot more casts to find them. Leader length is a whole 'nother question.....just my opinion

Most of the guys in the midwest use a fixed rig.We generally start out with an 18 inch leader, and adjust accordingly depending on current and clarity. You can still probe different zones with a fixed rig by moving the location of your weight. There are a lot of times I'll run a drift at three or four different leader lengths to prove to myself that the fish are in the run. I think a fixed rig is alot easier for a new guy to keep in contact with his drift. Just an opinion. With no fish heading up our rivers for a few more weeks, all I can have is an opinion. Hey Bob, keep pounding them up in Alaska. I love the pictures. Can't wait to have the boys at Teds' Fed Ex me some live sand shrimp this winter. These great lakes brats are going to blow their melons when they see those "alien" creatures coming through the run. They'll either pound them, or head straight back to the lake looking for their mother. Tight Lines.

It depends on the water that I'm fishing. If I'm fishing fast running, boulder strewn rivers I like a fixed rig. It sinks quicker, and doesn't hang up as often. I like to fish my reels in direct drive, therefore when I'm dropping line I have more contact with my weight. If I'm fishing my home river in the winter for frozen summerruns, the pools are generally slow and the bottoms very fine gravel I like a slider. The fish are very lethargic, and will often pick up a bait and swim away (before I ever feel the bite) therefore the slider allows some line to move before the fish figures out that something is "fishy" snit

Slider, Strike detection is very important and if I need to get down faster I use more lead.

Having fished both setups, I would have to say that I favor the slider... This last winter is the first that I have used it prominently, and I had way more hookups than previous years... It seems a lot easier to detect the bite.. Very rarely do I use any bait, so generally it's just with a corky setup as well...

Fed Ex sandshrimp! Dude, that one will reek

Lol @ wreaking shrimp...not much smells worse. Btw slider is the only way to go 1.Gives fisherman better chance of detecting strike. 2. Fish doesn't feel weight of lead 3. Lead doesn't have to drift past fish before you can detect strike,which means you have a longer time to react to bite. 4. sliding lead takes slack out of line to detect strikes. I rarely use fixed lead and that is only for specialized drifting.

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Fixed weight. You're in more control of the drift and more consistently in direct contact with the fish at the take. But the mistake I see most often is in the bouyancy at the hook. In shallow water I like the hook/lure/fly/whatever to have nuetral or barely positive bouyancy. In deepwater and/or fast current I like negative bouyancy at the hook. You can fine-tune the point when the hook gets down to the "fishy" area by the angle you cast in relation to the current. Longer leaders require more negative bouyancy at the hook or a longer drift into the "fishy" area. I consider the ideal drift to be when the hook is fluttering a few inches off the bottom while it is passing through the "fishy" area. It's worked for me anyhow and I hope you guys add to this because I'm sure as hell all ears.


[This message has been edited by AkBill (edited 08-01-99).]

[This message has been edited by AkBill (edited 08-01-99).]

I guess from the responses here, you can take the answer as "it depends on where, when, what kind of water" . I use both ways depending on the water, and whether or not I'm in a boat.

I think a fixed lead is better in "pocket" water, wher you have to get down quickly and the holes are smaller.

I use sliders when side drifting bair from a boat, but you have to be sure your lead is not riding up the mainline away from the bait. The exception is when I'm on the peninsula rivers where Bob fishes. Then I use the long leaders with a fixed lead so you can get in more of the pockets than you can with a slider.

As for bite detection, I don't think there are many fish that can bite a fixed lead rig and get away with it if you know what you're feeling and you're not using a half-pound of lead. But knowing what should trigger a hookset takes a long time to learn.

Just like most times when talking fishing, there's no one right answer. Play with bost and see what suits your fancy. But there's definitely no "without a doubt" one way or the other when talking fixed and sliding lead.


Fish on..........

Okay.. Lets see... This is somewhat of a ford vs. chevy issue, cause I see a lot of people using both tactics catching fish. This is somewhat factual. However, when it comes to the Ford vs. Chevy thing, I'd personally have to say that the slider has proven to be the Cadillac of setups (Again, GM prevails! =) I fished a fixed lead setup for most of my life, and I'm gonna try the slider again this year, just to see the success rate!

Tom