Newfangled Flashers

[crabbait]

I remember when I was a kid and we went out salmon fishing with my rich Uncle one time. Us po' folk always trolled a herring with a bend in him and a couple of half hitches around his nose about 6' behind a trolling sinker and did just fine, thank you.

Rich Uncle breaks out these dang Deep Six divers and giant flashers with a siwashed hootchie about 30" behind it. Never so disgusted with a fishing day in my life! Yeah, we caught silvers, and the dang flashers beat them to death before ya ever got any fight out of them. As soon as they were hooked they were surfing behind his Sea Ray so he didn't even slow down, just long handle netted those poor things and dropped the gear back out. Had our limit and were back at the dock before 10am. Was about as much fun as reeling in big Walleye! [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

Now I see that a couple of companies have come out with flashers that pop loose from the tail end when a fish hooks up, then slide up the line out of the way. It would be nice to fish silvers with hootchies when the bait runs out or when they are hitting so fast ya can't keep bait in the water.

Anybody try these newfangled flashers? have ya seen any in the stores yet?

[Miss B Haven]

crabbait- why not just use a small trolling weight and a herring? Better yet- a coyote or a trolling fly? :grin:
Actually - the flashers aren't that bad are they? How about them big delta divers I run? Man- if a fish doesn't trip them (and occasionally they don't) you just fight the diver - can't tell if the fish is still there??? :whazzup:
They sure seem to be effective though! :grin:

[skein]

Just attach the flasher to the ball on the downrigger, then put the herring on a stacker right above it. The flasher does its job of attracting the fish, and when he hits, you're just fighting the fish not the flasher/fish combo.

Takes a little getting used to, but it's the only way I do it now.



When you crank in the downrigger, just keep a little forward motion so it doesn't tangle up with the ball.

Skein

[Bluefinn]

skein is right on this it does work very well for chinook.make sure you run a shorter ldr. to your flasher on your trolling motor side 2-3 ft.max.

[crabbait]

I agree, Skein, but hootchies work best when whipped around by a flasher and Coho seem to like Hoochies. They will also keep you fishing when the little robbers have run you out of bait!

I like the inline flashers like a Fish Flash for herring but running the flasher off the downrigger weight is even better.

[corrirod]

Skein's got it. That is the best way to fish. The fish have 100x more fight when their not dragging a diver and flasher around.

As far as the hootchie thing goes, no need to have it twirling around behind a dodger/flasher. I usually cut a herring in half and attach a piece to the hootchie and away we go. If you need the twirl then go to an SKS, or other similar bait rig.

In fact, one of my experimental rigs that I hope to fine tune this season is a fishtrap, no lead, attached to the mooching rig just like a herring only offset enough to spiral. Tough to explain but you just run the mooching rig thru the fishtrap body so that the trap will immitate a cutplug herring. The best part of this rig is that not only do you have the spiral, but you also have the tail wagging like a live bait.

Downriggers Rock!

[Pitch Pocket]

I used to only fish herring, either cut plug or whole, and was please at my catch. When I started to properly use the rotary flasher and diver, I caught so many more fish that I was truly surprised. I found that certain colors on certain days simply out fished anything or anyone around. Even (especially) when fishing in a crowd, the more attraction you offer, the more fish you catch. I don't find the deep six too much of a drag on the line when fighting even a silver and the rotary flashers have very little drag if any.

If I'm fishing a trout pond full of fish, 1/4 of a worm is all I use. If I'm looking to get the stink off the boat on a so-so day at Astoria, the hardware comes out.

[Chaps]

Those new flashers that pop loose on the back end and slide up have been selling here in Puget Sound for about a year and they are very cool. No more drag on the fight than a piece of weed so I've been able to switch over to lighter gear that makes things even more interesting. You guys on the coast should try 'em.

[boater]

crabait, they sell them at the outdoor emporium in seattle, i think they are called "jims breakaway flashers", here is a link to there website but i didnt see them on it. link

[Orca]

Englunds has them in Newport - $10.50.