Best Flashers and Flasher Tips for Salmon Fishing

The flasher is a key element in a salmon fishing trolling setup. Flashers can be used on the actual fishing line, and, in a system known as dummy flasher where the flasher is attached directly to the downrigger cannonball or placed on the downrigger wire.

How Does a Flasher Work

Flashers work through the creation of a visual mark that resembles an adult salmon swimming and slashing rapidly through a herring ball. When nearby salmon sees the flasher they anticipate that another salmon has found and attacked some forage fish and that there may be some injured baits nearby that could be scooped up for an easy meal. The nearby salmon will be attracted to the flasher. The flasher creates a visual cue and a vibration in the water, both of which can be sensed by nearby salmon.

Flashers Create Action for Hoochies

Another benefit to the flasher is that it can impart some action or movement to lures that do not create their own movement. Salmon plugs, spoons and plug cut baits all create their own actions, but, hoochies do not and the use of a flasher in front of a hoochie is a critical aspect to the fishing technique. Salmon hoochies should be tied on relatively heavy fluorocarbon leaders, 50lb test. Hoochie leaders should also be on the shorter side of the spectrum in relation to the leader lengths used for plugs, spoons, and plug cut baits. A short and heavy leader means that the lightweight hoochie will be close to the flasher and as the flasher revolves, it will yank the hoochie around through the water causing significant action to the hoochie. If the leader material was not as heavy, or, if the length of the leader was increased, then the effect the flasher has on the hoochie would be diminished.

Leader Lengths for Flasher Fishing

Hot spot flashers provides the following table for guidance on choosing leader lengths for use with their flashers. The angler can vary their leaders to suit their preferences, but the Hot Spot guidelines are a good starting point. It is important to understand the reason for leader lengths, as I have described above in terms of creating and imparting action to the lure. Lures that do not create their own action should have relatively shorter leaders while lures that do create their own action should have relatively longer leaders. The maximum leader length recommended by Hotspot is 72″. My observation is that as leaders become particularly long, it becomes problematic for the crew to net the salmon, since, you will not be able to reel the salmon in the last 72″ and that is a fair distance for netting.

How Far to Run Flashers Behind the Boat

When setting the flasher out behind the downrigger, the amount of line can also be varied. Hot Spot recommends starting with approximately 18 feet of line out behind the downrigger clip, to the flasher. This amount can be increased or decreased. If the amount is increased then one downside is the increased probability of snagging up the gear on one side of the boat with the gear on the other side, especially if the tides are running strong. When I’m fishing in strong tides, windy conditions, or, areas with a lot of boats, I tend to shorten up the distance that I set my rigs out in order to reduce the chances of problems.

Flasher Manufacturers

Flashers are made by a variety of manufacturers. Hot Spot, Oki, and Gibbs-Delta all make a variety of plastic flashers for the west coast salmon fishing markets. Solid metal flashers such as the Abe & Al have been popular commercial flashers for decades and are manufactured by Luhr Jensen and Silver Horde.

The Best Flasher Colors for Chinook Salmon Fishing

The standby colors for flashers have typically been green, red, and silver. The green edge resembles the greenish backs encountered in schooling herring. The red edge resembles a ball of krill and in some cases wounded baitfish. It is important to note that as one fishes deeper in the water column, the colors typically fade and all blend into grayish tones. If fishing greater than 60-80 feet then color is going to become less of a factor. The majority of +30lb chinook caught on my boat have been caught on pure silver metal flashers, they work quite well when the chinook are feeding in the 30-60 foot depth ranges.

Glow and UV Flashers

To provide a solution to deep water anglers, flashers have been created with glow and UV treatments. These flashers are ideal for deep water fishing where the illumination can be seen by salmon from a distance, giving the angler an edge over other non-visual flashers.

Flashers that Replicate the Colors of Popular Lures

Many of the manufacturers are now producing flashers that have color schemes that replicate the colors of popular salmon fishing spoons and plugs. Colors such as the cop car, army truck, and other greens and purples seen on coyote and coho killer spoons are now showing up on flashers too.

Dummy Flashers on the Downrigger Line

I fish with dummy flashers on my downriggers all the time. Always purchase cannonballs with a ring at the back of the fin, this is the attachment point for the dummy flasher. Use heavy leader material, I use a 200lb test leader material for my dummy flashers that is 24-36 inches in length. At the front I attach a quick-release clip it is basically a mini-downrigger line clip. This dummy flasher can be quickly snapped onto the ring for deployment, and when I want to clear out the gear for netting a fish, it can be quickly removed. Dummy flashers can also be clipped directly onto the downrigger wire at various depths and this can help to simulate a school of fish. This technique is more commonly used for sockeye salmon fishing than chinook. The dummy flasher is a great technique, first of all it prevents your cannonballs from spinning and that ensure the wireline is not damaged. The most important benefit is that a dummy flasher enables the angler to fish a line with no flasher on the line, something I find a great advantage for large chinook salmon. Big springs have so much speed and agility that if they are dragging a flasher through the water, with a barbless hook, I think there is a much greater probability that the salmon will find a way to leverage the hook out of its mouth. For this reason when I am chinook fishing I almost always run dummy flashers and no flashers on my salmon lines.

Flasher Storage

Flashers are prone to getting beat up and scratched so a great tackle bag is manufactured by silver horde and I recommend that all anglers should have several of these cases. With the cases you can leave flashers inside where they are protected. You can also insert fully rigged flashers (eg with a hoochie attached) to save time when you get out to the fishing grounds and want to change tackle quickly.

More Information

For more information on Flashers:

• Hot Spot Flashers Booklet