What is a fixed sinker

A fixed sinker does not move: it is pinched onto the line, tied on, or carried on a separate dropper. A fish that takes the bait drags the weight along with it straight away.

Where self-hooking comes from

The fish moves off with the bait, the line comes tight, the weight will not follow — and the hook goes home by itself. The angler need neither hold the rod nor judge the moment.

That is why the fixed rig became standard where the rod is left in a rest: what would have been a missed bite on a sliding rig becomes a hooked fish here.

And hence its limit

A cautious fish that meets the weight drops the bait. The very mechanism that hooks an active fish scares off a passive one — and that is the whole choice between fixed and sliding rigs.

Ways of attaching it

Three main ones: pinch a split shot straight onto the line, tie the sinker to a separate dropper, or seat it between two stops tightly enough that it cannot move.

The dropper is the neatest: the sinker hangs on its own link and it is the link that parts on a snag — see how not to lose your sinker.

Split shot cuts line

The simplest method, and the most dangerous. Pinched too hard, a shot crushes the line, and the break comes at that point rather than at the knot. The damage cannot be seen by eye.

So a shot is squeezed until it just holds, not «to be sure», and it is not moved several times: every removal leaves a mark. That is what lead is soft for — see the entry on materials.

Shape weighs more here

On a sliding rig the sinker can shift along the line; on a fixed one it has nowhere to go. If the current moves it, it moves the whole rig and the bait with it — so on flowing water you take shapes that hold bottom.

Several shot instead of one

The same weight can be made up from one piece or from several small ones spread along the line. One drops the bait straight down; several let it fall more slowly and further out.

In float fishing that is the main lever: spreading the shot controls the rate of fall without changing the total weight.

What we do not state here

From what weight self-hooking starts working reliably. It depends on the fish, the hook and how the rig lies, and we found no verified source for a general number. The sign is simple: the empty bites have stopped, so the weight is enough.