Ledgering, bottom fishing and legering: one idea, three words
Explainer · Last reviewed 2026-08-15
Fishing a bait on or near the bottom with the weight resting rather than suspended — the most widely practised approach in the world, and the one with the least consistent name.
LEDGERING and LEGERING are the same British word with two accepted spellings, and arguments about which is correct have no resolution worth having. BOTTOM FISHING is the international description. STILL FISHING appears in North American usage for the static version of it.
All of them describe the same arrangement: the weight rests on or near the bottom, the bait sits at or close to it, and bite detection comes from the rod tip, a bite alarm, a quivertip or the line itself rather than from a float.
The defining distinction from float fishing is not depth — a float can fish the bottom — but WHERE THE RESISTANCE IS. In float fishing the float supports the terminal tackle and the fish feels the float. In ledgering the weight is anchored and the fish feels the weight, or feels nothing until the line moves.
That difference decides most of the technique that follows: how heavy the weight can be before a fish drops the bait, whether the rig lets line run freely through the weight, and how the bite is detected at all.
Running and fixed, and why it is the decision that matters
In a RUNNING arrangement the line passes freely through the weight, so a taking fish can move without immediately feeling it. It is the more forgiving setup where fish are cautious, and it is the standard answer where bites are dropped.
In a FIXED or semi-fixed arrangement the weight is attached so the fish pulls against it. Done deliberately this is a self-hooking system: the fish takes, feels the weight, bolts, and sets the hook against its own momentum.
Both are legitimate and they answer different problems. What is not legitimate is a rig that is fixed by accident — one where a swivel or a bead has jammed and the fish is pulling against a weight the angler believes is running.
There is also a safety dimension that is genuinely about fish welfare rather than tackle: a fixed weight that cannot shed if the line breaks leaves a fish towing it. Rigs designed to release the weight under those conditions exist for that reason.
Practitioner consensus
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Running and fixed ledger arrangements, bite detection and the reasoning behind each.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Sea-angling bottom-fishing practice, including rig safety and weight release.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Where the words diverge in practice
British ledgering usually implies a rod fished on a rest with a quivertip or an alarm, in freshwater, at moderate range.
North American bottom fishing more often implies a boat, a heavier weight and deeper water, and still fishing implies a static bait with no attempt to search.
Sea-fishing traditions everywhere use the same principle with much heavier weights and treat it as unremarkable enough not to name.
None of those is a different technique. They are the same idea scaled to the water, and a reader who has understood the running-versus-fixed question has understood all of them.
Where to go next
Where it matters
- Feeder fishingA feeder is a ledger weight that also carries bait, which is why the two families of technique overlap.
- LedgeringRunning and fixed arrangements are the decision that matters, and one of them is a self-hooking system.
- SurfcastingSea traditions use the same principle at much heavier weights and rarely name it at all.
What these connections rest on (3)
Authoritative guidance — 3 connections
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Feeder fishing
The relationship is obscured by treating the two as separate methods.
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Bottom-fishing gear configurations and terminology.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Ledgering
The method record and the vocabulary that surrounds it internationally.
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Bottom-fishing gear configurations and terminology.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Surfcasting
The same idea scaled to the water, which is the page's central point.
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Bottom-fishing gear configurations and terminology.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
More explainer
Not related to this page — just the rest of the section, because this record connects to very little and a short page should still lead somewhere.
Sources for this page
- FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Bottom-fishing gear configurations and terminology.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
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