[Pete]

What is your experience? What works best? I've been using fishflashes for the last season or two, because they don't put the same drag on my gear as a flasher or dodger. I run mine off of a trolling weight (banana sinker). But using one set up means I'm not using something else. Let's get some input on what folks are using and see if there's a pattern? Is it bait behind any kind of flasher at the right depth, or does it make a difference whether you're using a diver or lead, whether you're using a fishflash or a flasher?

 

[Time Off]

Let's start with the most inexperienced and work up. I did my first trolling yesterday and used a spliter with a 6oz ball attached to the lower leg of the spliter and a med fishflash with snap ring ring off the top. 5' of 30lb leader from fish flash to mooching rig.

 

[Boatdog]

Pete,

I've been experimenting with this same issue.
My conclusions:
Diver or lead - doesn't matter, unless your trolling just off the bottom, where lead is better.
Fish flash or dodger - both seem to attract fish equally. I haven't noticed a bite difference from the dodger action vs the fish flash, trolling herring.
Fish flash right next to diver, or fish flash 2-3 feet back - no difference in salt water for me.
Fish flash/diver colors - Silver, red, green... all catch fish in both fresh and salt.
I have concluded that fishing the right depth, the right location, and in front of fish will catch fish.
I think that most of the "hot colors" and "Brand X" lures are in the right place at the right time.

 

[Born to Fish]

Any rule of thumb for the size of the dodger or flasher based on what you're pulling behind it: fly/?; spoon/?; herring/?

 

[Pete]

My rule of thumb for size is ... deeper = bigger. The idea is to attract. Deeper water has less light, so more reflective surface to flash more.

 

[Tilla]

Well all I know is the Fish Flash accounted for 2/3's the hookups out past the CR buoy on our boat last Sat. Hmmm.

 

[STGRule]

We use fishflash attached to the diver and we catch just fine. The problem is, if you’re catching you don't usually change anything. We've been really lucky and have limited the few times we were out in the ocean. Out there it seems to more a put something in the water rather than what you put in the water. Freshwater is much different than the salt. Actively feeding vs. heading up the river.

 

[wetaline]

My question to you all is this. When the fishing is as good as its been down at B10 and the ocean - is it worth giving up the feel of fighting a fish for a fish flash? I think sometimes you might catch a fish or two more w/ a diver or flash - but man is it painful to fight them w/ those rigs on... i just go w/ lead - more fun fighting the fish - and we still limit in a couple hours or whatever the avg rate is that date.

just my thought on the fish flash when the fishing is good already.

hp

 

[steelheadslayer]

We do really well attaching the fishflash right to the diver. I got a nice nook the other day with a large green Kone Zone attached right to the diver. I don't feel any drag from the flasher or diver when fighting a fish, they usually trip the diver on the strike. I prefer deep six divers but will use a delta diver at times. :cheers:

 

[Dipnet]

We've used the fishflash attached right to the diver last weekend and this. I had a green ff and my husband used a chartreuse. We ended up with 2 chinook and 3 silvers kept and released a 24" chinook and a native silver. I had seven fish on that just didn't hook up also. I think like Boatdog said, the right bait at the right depth, right in front of the fish is the answer!!!

Dipnet :grin:

 

[Snapshot]

I have to agree with Boatdog and Dipnet about getting the bait in front of the fish. Depth seems to be the key factor and useing whatever it takes to get it there. My biggest ( 28lbs )nook came on a green fishflash at 12 pulls. I had a delta diver, medium size, then a herring dodger about 9"er, and then the smallest fishflass clipped to the dodger and about a 36" leader. I have been very consistent with that setup every time out. Just find the depth and hold on.

I was out there on Saturday and Sunday. Sure could have used a little direction to the hot spots because I crossed all of them and they were cold by the time I got there. Saturday seemed better than Sunday. Hope your fish came faster than ours. Our last fish took 4 natives and about 3 hours. Finally headed in about 1.

*Fish only bite wet hooks*

 

[Uglygreen]

Both will catch fish, but do you want to target a particuler species?

Coho - Fishflash on a diver. (I like the spin)

Chinook - Dodger on a downrigger. ( I like the wobble)

Fishing lead - straight herring. (no flash - no drag)

-------------------------------------------

Fishing lead (done properly - dont set the hook, and let them eat, munch, and swallow it) will give you the highest percentage of good hookups for Chinook. For Coho it doesnt matter, use a RSK and leave the hooks just hanging outside the baitfish.

Of course - sometimes the fish are so thick that bare hooks will work. We were catching coho on bottomfish gear under the boat one day this year every time we dropped our lines in the water.

Other times you cant buy a bite without the proper bait. We limited one day about 3 weeks ago fishing Sardines instead of herring, when the charters went back to port with less than a fish per person average. Big schools of sardines and krill in the water and the herring wasnt getting hit, we swiched to fresh sardines and bam bam bam. Keep a few herrring jigs on board for when you find that baitball. Jig up a few live baits and mooch them with single hook tied straight to your mainline, (no weight) hook the baitfish through the top of the back, just foreward of the dorsal. Mucho fun, having a big chinook munch a live bait and fighting it with no weight/ diver / flasher / etc...

The 6 chinooks we got Saturday all had sardines in their bellies - ask Pilar how well the sardines we had on board worked for bait. Match the hatch if you can.

In the river / tidewater I like to switch to plug cut, but thats just me.

UG

[ 08-25-2003, 10:33 PM: Message edited by: Uglygreen ]

 

[crabbait]

In the ocean, lead or diver, your choice. In the river, currents are often much different a few feet below the surface. Speed and spin may look good behind the boat but not when they get down to trolling depth. I think a diver is a better indicator of what is going on at trolling depth in the river than lead.

We fished five rods out of my boat last week and had very few tangles. We fished both the side rods (8 1/2' rods) with Delta divers, Fishflash or Kone flash connected to the diver and about 7' leaders with a chain swivel in the middle. The two corner rods were on 12lb downriggers with the fishflash attached to the ball and the release clip attached to the flasher, again, about a 7' leader with a chain swivel. (Downriggers worked great accounting for two out of three chinook the first day, then went cold. I think I will attach the fishflash to the leader and put the clip in front of the flasher so I can get back a ways from the boat and ball next time.)

Color on the flashers seems to make a difference. I bought an assortment of flasher tapes and customized the colors adding some green and red and adding a better silver flash on the Fishflashs (Kone flashers needed no help in the silver flash department).

I know we fished deeper than most, 25 pulls with the Delta divers out the side and 25 to 32 out the back. Downriggers were between 25 and 30 feet but probably should have gone deeper. I am still experimenting with the downriggers. It was great fighting chinook with nothing on the line but a chain swivel and the mooching rig.

We target chinook specifically and take the incidental coho when they come along. All the coho we caught while targeting chinook were over ten pounds and hatchery. The one day we fished exclusively between B-10 and B-11 (Thur, rough conditions for tired kids on their third day fishing in a row, short day) we got blanked. The only native we got and the only small coho keeper were at B-10 (10 - 15 pulls).

We probably would have done better at B-10 with smaller fresh bait instead of the big brined herring or if we had switched to Coyotes. Live and learn.

[ 08-25-2003, 10:36 PM: Message edited by: crabbait ]