a weight arrestor for attachment to downriggers ; the weight arrestor has an elongated coiled spring surrounding a downrigger cable . the spring radially flexes under stress exerted by the cable and slides up and down on the cable . the spring is adjustably coupled to a fastener . a cord is desirably fastened to both the spring and fastener . the fastener automatically secures the cord when tension is on the cord . the fastener is pivotally mounted onto a downrigger .