Salmon downrigger setups
- Thread starter Loghauler
- Start date
sly_karma
Crew Member
If you're fairly new to salmon fishing then don't be in a big hurry to get rid of the flasher. Salmon run hard and can be a real handful, and barbless hooks make it harder again. The flasher adds drag on the fish when it shakes its head and this can be a big factor in your success rate while you gain experience. Then try dummy flasher setup as a next step, you still get the attractant but lose the drag.
I actually lose more fish with a flasher. Gives the fish something to lever against. The flasher fights at both ends, especially in a current and with the boat in gear. Without a flasher you can get away with a lighter leader and benefit more from the bungy stretch in your main line and are actually fighting the fish, not the flasher. I've been using both systems and some days one system works better than the other as far as number of hook-ups go.
As is obvious, opinions may differ, but "you can trust me; I'm not like all the rest." (Hunter S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas") Seriously, I fish salmon in Haida Gwaii, meaning that if you're fishing someplace where your cannonball is at 150 or 250 feet, while I rarely need to go deeper than 60' and often fish as shallow as 30', we're fishing in totally different realities.
That said, I run my flasher at least 30 feet behind the release clip, and usually about 40, because trolling shallower, I don't want the boat to spook the fish. I also don't fish in a lot of traffic, so I don't worry about some dim bulb running perpendicular to the tack and fouling my gear. Fishing farther back like that, a dummy flasher would lose its effect, so I keep my flashers on my lines. If I'm running bait on a teaser head, I keep my leaders around 6' long, and I'd rather be longer than shorter. With hoochies, I tend to be around 30", because a hoochie has no action of its own, so a short, stiff leader imparts the action of the flasher. I run even small spoons (3 1/2") without a flasher, but I'll usually be running something behind a flasher on the other downrigger.
It's great if you can be successful without a flasher. When playing a fish, the flasher imparts all kinds of random slacks and jerks, especially when the fish turns or jumps, so I beg to differ with the idea that it's a positive factor in keeping fish hooked. However, there are times when a flasher is a necessity, IMHO.
I can't comprehend why anyone would run only one downrigger! There's not that much to "pay attention" to, especially if you're using hoochies or hardware, where a missed strike that doesn't release the line makes little difference. Not only do two downriggers at least double the hooks you have in the water, they let you try different depths, experiment on one side with hoochies and hardware while keeping bait down on the other, and if both rigs are a similar distance behind the boat with a flasher on only one side, the flasher is an attractant that can benefit a flasherless spoon on the other side.
Smell makes a difference! If you handle fuel or spicy snacks before you handle your gear, it can be a disaster. I toss in a cut clove of garlic or some anise oil in my bait brine, but I haven't felt compelled to go with any other scent. An old troll-fisherman I knew used to mash a herring or anchovy on his cannonball when he started the day, which also had the effect of scenting his hands.
As for hook tie-ups, I use tandem singles. Especially in an era where you may have to release fish without damaging them, and will ideally shake them by grabbing the leader and grasping the hook overside with pliers, the single hook is the answer. I like to tie a red octopus hook on for the stinger, because although red as a color disappears at fairly shallow depths, it still looks like whatever shade red turns into at depth. It my just be superstition on my part, but I think having something the "color" of blood around the tail of a "wounded" bait adds authenticity. Whatever the case, I catch a lot of my fish on the stinger.
A last idea would be to troll along a bottom contour. I typically start out following the 20-fathom line, and slowly zig zag along it until I find the bait. If I don't locate any, I'll move in or out to follow a deeper or shallower contour. It gives you one more dimension when you're triangulating where the fish are. If the bait is hovering at around 60', that's a good depth to run your gear, but if it's mostly concentrated at 60 feet deep and 60 feet off the bottom, trolling 60' deep in 240' of water misses much of the point.
That said, I run my flasher at least 30 feet behind the release clip, and usually about 40, because trolling shallower, I don't want the boat to spook the fish. I also don't fish in a lot of traffic, so I don't worry about some dim bulb running perpendicular to the tack and fouling my gear. Fishing farther back like that, a dummy flasher would lose its effect, so I keep my flashers on my lines. If I'm running bait on a teaser head, I keep my leaders around 6' long, and I'd rather be longer than shorter. With hoochies, I tend to be around 30", because a hoochie has no action of its own, so a short, stiff leader imparts the action of the flasher. I run even small spoons (3 1/2") without a flasher, but I'll usually be running something behind a flasher on the other downrigger.
It's great if you can be successful without a flasher. When playing a fish, the flasher imparts all kinds of random slacks and jerks, especially when the fish turns or jumps, so I beg to differ with the idea that it's a positive factor in keeping fish hooked. However, there are times when a flasher is a necessity, IMHO.
I can't comprehend why anyone would run only one downrigger! There's not that much to "pay attention" to, especially if you're using hoochies or hardware, where a missed strike that doesn't release the line makes little difference. Not only do two downriggers at least double the hooks you have in the water, they let you try different depths, experiment on one side with hoochies and hardware while keeping bait down on the other, and if both rigs are a similar distance behind the boat with a flasher on only one side, the flasher is an attractant that can benefit a flasherless spoon on the other side.
Smell makes a difference! If you handle fuel or spicy snacks before you handle your gear, it can be a disaster. I toss in a cut clove of garlic or some anise oil in my bait brine, but I haven't felt compelled to go with any other scent. An old troll-fisherman I knew used to mash a herring or anchovy on his cannonball when he started the day, which also had the effect of scenting his hands.
As for hook tie-ups, I use tandem singles. Especially in an era where you may have to release fish without damaging them, and will ideally shake them by grabbing the leader and grasping the hook overside with pliers, the single hook is the answer. I like to tie a red octopus hook on for the stinger, because although red as a color disappears at fairly shallow depths, it still looks like whatever shade red turns into at depth. It my just be superstition on my part, but I think having something the "color" of blood around the tail of a "wounded" bait adds authenticity. Whatever the case, I catch a lot of my fish on the stinger.
A last idea would be to troll along a bottom contour. I typically start out following the 20-fathom line, and slowly zig zag along it until I find the bait. If I don't locate any, I'll move in or out to follow a deeper or shallower contour. It gives you one more dimension when you're triangulating where the fish are. If the bait is hovering at around 60', that's a good depth to run your gear, but if it's mostly concentrated at 60 feet deep and 60 feet off the bottom, trolling 60' deep in 240' of water misses much of the point.
Last edited:
sly_karma
Crew Member
I always figured the swivel between the lure and the flasher would rob the fish of most of that leverage.
I asked our charter guide if he ever used dummy flashers. Sure, but not when he had guests aboard - too many lost fish.
Interesting. I assuming guests are really sloppy at keeping tension on a fish and the flasher makes up for that handicap giving at least some tension. Training wheels? I'm all for whatever works for newbies or whatever one has to do to enjoy an outing, within reason.
ship happens
Crew Member
prodjsaig
Well-Known Member
I have done this before. if you slide the single in the spine and use the length of the shank it can hold very well. Trebles can pull a line up the fish so you need to check the bait every so often. It takes skill to place that single have to angle it and feed it in. Practice one rig with 2 singles gives you something to do.
Ian wagner
Active Member
All a great sounder will do is pissed you off more when you can see the fish better but still can't catch them :-D
sly_karma
Crew Member
That is when you pull in the trolled lines, circle back into the stacked fish and drop jigs. They may not be feeding, but will snap at a well presented jig - the classic reaction bite.
Squire
Well-Known Member
I often find the flasher to be a catch 22 situation. Many times I’ll get more action than without but I’ll lose more as well. The point the flasher first breaks the surface is critical and accounts for as many lost fish as the netting/landing process for me.
I second the poster who said presenting something different than everyone else in the crowd can produce results. The weekend before last I fished in the pack at Entrance for a couple of hours from 150 to 200 ft with nothing but shakers to show for my effort in spite of marking lots of bait and fish. I moved to Thrasher and changed one side to a Little Cleo tied straight to the mainline and set it 30 feet behind the ball. I was targeting coho at 70 ft and picked up my only keeper of the day; at fat 73 cm Chinook with a girth of 19” which makes it a 13-14 pounder according to the formula. This fish scrapped like crazy, making several acrobatic tumbles with darts and turns at the surface and I doubt I could have brought him in with a flasher in the mix.
I second the poster who said presenting something different than everyone else in the crowd can produce results. The weekend before last I fished in the pack at Entrance for a couple of hours from 150 to 200 ft with nothing but shakers to show for my effort in spite of marking lots of bait and fish. I moved to Thrasher and changed one side to a Little Cleo tied straight to the mainline and set it 30 feet behind the ball. I was targeting coho at 70 ft and picked up my only keeper of the day; at fat 73 cm Chinook with a girth of 19” which makes it a 13-14 pounder according to the formula. This fish scrapped like crazy, making several acrobatic tumbles with darts and turns at the surface and I doubt I could have brought him in with a flasher in the mix.
Attachments
Last edited:
Lots of great info on here. amazing the variety of opinion.
No guy I've talked to has the same formula for success when it comes to hooks, flashers, leader types... etc. Not even the guides. Pros and cons to everything. If I've learned anything fishing here and there on VCI its that the "make or break" is all different....Learn your gear, put in the time. Try new stuff out and build your confidence.
Base what you try on what you learn from guys who are successful in your area. Haida gwaii salmon fishing is so much different than Bute inlet salmon its not even funny.
regarding electronics - it depends as well, but its mostly getting used to an area. I love the navionics app. With a battery pack and holder you can save big money on a GPS system, and take it in anybody's boat. I also agree, you dont need a crazy good sounder. they are nice. Get something reliable. Between navionics and a sounder I trust I can fish structure tight to bottom confidently.
No guy I've talked to has the same formula for success when it comes to hooks, flashers, leader types... etc. Not even the guides. Pros and cons to everything. If I've learned anything fishing here and there on VCI its that the "make or break" is all different....Learn your gear, put in the time. Try new stuff out and build your confidence.
Base what you try on what you learn from guys who are successful in your area. Haida gwaii salmon fishing is so much different than Bute inlet salmon its not even funny.
regarding electronics - it depends as well, but its mostly getting used to an area. I love the navionics app. With a battery pack and holder you can save big money on a GPS system, and take it in anybody's boat. I also agree, you dont need a crazy good sounder. they are nice. Get something reliable. Between navionics and a sounder I trust I can fish structure tight to bottom confidently.
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
Right hand to the rocks. Don’t be a Googan
