Yeah, I gotta agree with Drifter and Thumper in that I dont think that being in constant contact with the bottom is all that important. Granted, it does account for something, and there are times when you'd want to have "Just the right amount" of lead on, But I think that the old addage of having to bang the bottom for steelhead is way off base. The majority of my steelhead are caught under a float, and when I do drift fish, I very rarely have to use much more than a split shot or two. I'll usually only feel the bottom two to three times during the course of a drift. Anyhow, That's my.02, maybe I'm all screwed up, but it's been putting fish on the bank for me.