What is a sliding sinker

A sliding sinker has a hole through it or a swivel for the line to pass through. It is not tied on: the line runs freely through it, and that is the whole difference from a fixed rig.

What the fish feels

Taking the bait, the fish pulls line — and the sinker stays lying on the bottom. There is no resistance in the first moment, and the fish has time to take the bait properly before it suspects anything.

That is why the sliding rig is used for cautious fish and for a long soft bite. For a predator's sharp attack it is unnecessary: there, resistance spoils nothing.

Olivette and inline

An olivette is an elongated piece with a hole along it; the line goes in one end and out the other. An inline is a sinker with a swivel or a tube, through which the line passes just the same but never touches the metal.

That is precisely the difference: in an olivette the line rubs on metal, in an inline on a tube. On soft line it shows within a season.

The stop sets the free travel

Below the sinker goes a stop — a knot, a bead or a rubber shot. The distance from the stop to the hook is the length over which the fish pulls without resistance.

That is the main lever of the rig: lengthen it and the bite is softer and later, shorten it and the reverse. It is the lever you adjust, not the weight of the sinker.

The bead under the knot

A bead goes between sinker and knot. Lead strikes the knot on every cast, and the knot is the weakest point of the tackle anyway — no knot holds as much as the unknotted line.

What wears out unnoticed

The hole in the sinker opens up over time and its edge starts cutting line. Check it the way you check rod guides: a cotton bud round the rim of the hole — fibres catch where there is a burr.

When the free travel stops working

In current the line in the hole is under constant tension, and the fish is no longer pulling free line but taut line. The rig stays sliding to look at and becomes fixed in effect.

So on flowing water you shorten the free travel, or move to a fixed rig deliberately, rather than hoping the hole will sort it out.

What we do not state here

Exactly what length of free travel to set. It depends on the fish, the bait and the flow all at once, and we found no verified source for a general figure. You find it on the water: bites that come but come empty mean the free travel is too long.