Have you guys ever used these?
They're a stiff piece of wire shaped like a 7 with an egg sinker treaded up the long leg less than halfway and held in place with a kink in the wire. You tie onto a swivel at the corner of the 7, and run a leader off of the short side.
A guy I met swears by them for Halibut. He runs a hoochy or bait off of it and walks it in 25-65' with a 1-4oz egg on it. His are made from a coat hanger but smaller wire and lighter weight might work in other settings. He has some pretty impressive pixs of big Hali's from the Monterey bay area. He says they're the most sensitive bottom searching rig he's ever found for telling apart muck, sand, gravel, chunk rock and boulders.
I know it sounds like it might not have a ton of applications, but it might be one more technique to help put another fish on your rod.

Tight lines,
Wade