Flashers. What do you think they do?

[Che]

Up for discussion.

Do flashers make a ball of light in the water that mimics a school of baitfish to attract salmon?

Or, do flashers look like a salmon attacking, which triggers other fish to bite?

Why do you think one or the other?

 

[Clint r]

I lean towards the attacking salmon.

I don’t know for certain but I think the vibrations coming of the flasher would be way different than those coming
off of an injured fish or even a small school of baitfish. And knowing fish use their lateral line to “feel” as much as they use their vision or sense of smell it just seems logical to me that they would be able to tell the difference in size.
But that’s just me.
And I’m no rocket surgeon. Lol

 

[Foxsea]

The secret of flashers lies in the mechanisms salmon use to find their prey. Salmon, like other fish, have five sensing mechanisms they use to find their prey. Sight, smell, sound, lateral line vibration sensors and electric field sensor cells which can detect nerve pulses emitted from bait fish. The lateral line is by far the most important of these. Along a salmon's side and on top of his head he has rows of nerve cells that can sense vibrations in the water. When a school of bait fish swim above a salmon he knows exactly where they are even though he cannot see them. He can sense the vibrations of their wiggling tails as they swim. He can also detect the stronger vibrations made by larger fish as they attack bait fish. If you watch the action of a flasher in the water its tail kick closely duplicates the swish swish of a salmon's tail as he attacks.

Salmon sense this from as far away as thirty or forty yards and will immediately charge in the direction of the flasher. Like a magnet, the flasher has pulled salmon
to your baits and lures. This is the flasher secret. It pulls salmon to your boat. You may catch them on the setup behind the flasher or you may catch them on other
lures fished above or to the side of the flasher. No other device offers the lateral line attraction of the well designed flasher with its strong tail kick imitating an attacking salmon.
- Pro Troll

 

[Canso]

When fishing for chinook and coho I believe the flasher is visually imitating a bait ball, but the thumping and vibrations coming from the flasher is feeding salmon. Troll speed 2.4-2.8mph

When fishing for sockeye I’m convinced your flashers are visually imitating swimming sockeye, or the sockeye believe them to be other sockeye. Vibrations would be feeding sockeye. Troll speed 1.5-1.9 mph
I’ve played with many different combinations for sockeye. Don’t get sucked into cone zones for sockeye, springs maybe.
Matching blue or green flashers for the win.

 

[RODNREEL]

The secret of flashers lies in the mechanisms salmon use to find their prey. Salmon, like other fish, have five sensing mechanisms they use to find their prey. Sight, smell, sound, lateral line vibration sensors and electric field sensor cells which can detect nerve pulses emitted from bait fish. The lateral line is by far the most important of these. Along a salmon's side and on top of his head he has rows of nerve cells that can sense vibrations in the water. When a school of bait fish swim above a salmon he knows exactly where they are even though he cannot see them. He can sense the vibrations of their wiggling tails as they swim. He can also detect the stronger vibrations made by larger fish as they attack bait fish. If you watch the action of a flasher in the water its tail kick closely duplicates the swish swish of a salmon's tail as he attacks.

Salmon sense this from as far away as thirty or forty yards and will immediately charge in the direction of the flasher. Like a magnet, the flasher has pulled salmon
to your baits and lures. This is the flasher secret. It pulls salmon to your boat. You may catch them on the setup behind the flasher or you may catch them on other
lures fished above or to the side of the flasher. No other device offers the lateral line attraction of the well designed flasher with its strong tail kick imitating an attacking salmon.
- Pro Troll

Good info........
So the vibration of the flasher is more inportant than the colour ??

 

[outbeen]

i have fished a lot with 1 side with flasher and one side without and found almost no difference. if anything i caught more fish without flashers when using bait.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Capilano]

i have fished a lot with 1 side with flasher and one side without and found almost no difference. if anything i caught more fish without flashers when using bait.

That's interesting. My friend on the Island has told me the same. Years ago, he used to fish a lot and many times, would run anchovies without a flasher. He salted the hell out of the anchovies to really stiffen them, then used wire to help keep a good roll on them.

 

[fishin_magician]

Flashers work.. stack one side with and one side without and fish the same depths. The side with should outperform the other by a significant margin. Those are my findings.

However, the leading brands of flashers right now catch fishermen....lots of fishermen...and all the flashers are now no longer what they used to be.

 

[walleyes]

They flash/reflect light,, duhhhh lol.

 

[Capilano]

Flashers work.. stack one side with and one side without and fish the same depths. The side with should outperform the other by a significant margin. Those are my findings.

What was used before the modern flashers came into vogue? And how long ago was that?

 

[Ringo]

What was used before the modern flashers came into vogue? And how long ago was that?

Dodgers
I still use them when fishing in north Island

 

[walleyes]

What was used before the modern flashers came into vogue? And how long ago was that?

Salmon were plentiful enough it wasn't an issue, back in the day they caught them with a whale bone and sinew for line go ahead and try that today see how you make out. Flashers are an attractant, at times it's the light/colour at times it's the vibration through lateral lines but it nothing more than that an attractant. Colour would mainly depend on depth, water colour, light pematration. Biggest thing in colour selection one has to remember is certain colours disappear after certain depths. What appears red in the surface turns black not far under the surface. Anybody that thinks it's the red in a hook that caught a fish in any water depth over 30' is mistaken. The reason chartreuse works so well is it stays a bright colour well into water column. There's lots of reasearch on this stuff boys, read up on it. If the schools are plantiful and thick or the water is clear you may not need a flasher or if you are skimming off the edge of kelp beds with your bait but in open water, deep fast moving schools they bring attention to your lure and bring them in for a look and attack. There are two types of lures, imitations and attractants, flashers fall under the atractant category.

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

I like flashers......but I also like peanut butter........damn why is fishing so complicated?

 

[walleyes]

I like flashers......but I also like peanut butter........damn why is fishing so complicated?

Have you ever tried Peanut Butter on a flasher,, maybe your onto something here. For the fish not for you.