SD vs flasher

[super_hawk2012]

What are some pros and cons of both. What makes one more efficient than the other.

[super_hawk2012]

I ask as I'm new to rigging and I have a couple sd's. and contemplating some flashers/dodgers

[Blue Knight]

I've been Prostaff for Hot Spot for around 30 years so I might be a little prejudice but this makes sense. I just watched a video on Murphy Sportfishing's website out of BC showing the action of a Hot Spot flasher. Every once in a while the flasher changed direction of rotation! That will never happen with any type of flasher that has a rudder attached. One major reason a fish is attracted to a lure is the change of direction. How many times when we've had a chaser have we either started to swing the boat from side to side or run the rigger up & down a couple of times! I rest my case!

[super_hawk2012]

Blue knight. Any suggestions on a couple hotspots for a beginner?

[Blue Knight]

I'd suggest you invest in these colors: White Lightning, Bullfrog and Weasel. Those three are pretty well the top producers. I use the 11" with cut bait and the 8" with a fly. Now it's been difficult to find the Weasel & White Lightning but Shortwave Marine in Port Credit have them in every Spring but are usually sold out in a week or so. I'd also suggest you get a couple of their new Agitator flashers. I run two in tandem off the ball with a Hot Spot Apex or another spoon running five feet behind and above the Agitators. That combo has been my top producer in the last two years.

[super_hawk2012]

So you run 2 flashers then a fly/bait? How far apart are the flashers?

[Blue Knight]

Take a look on Page 2 of the "Tackle Description" under "Hot Spot Agitator Flashers". That gives you details of how I run them off the ball. You can run them directly off the rod also trailing a spoon or an Apex. They are not designed to run a fly behind them as they will not impart any action on the fly. They are for running spoons or body baits behind them. I also sent you a PM.

[vetting]

So you have the actual line on a stacker release then?

[moemoe]

I'd suggest you invest in these colors: White Lightning, Bullfrog and Weasel. Those three are pretty well the top producers. I use the 11" with cut bait and the 8" with a fly. Now it's been difficult to find the Weasel & White Lightning but Shortwave Marine in Port Credit have them in every Spring but are usually sold out in a week or so. I'd also suggest you get a couple of their new Agitator flashers. I run two in tandem off the ball with a Hot Spot Apex or another spoon running five feet behind and above the Agitators. That combo has been my top producer in the last two years.

have to agree with blue knight....white lightning ran with a plain glow white meat head was by far the best producer for me last year....bullfrog was next......if you can find a white lightning paddle, jump on it! 

[bigblue]

Hey Foley (blue knight) we all know you run spin doctors when no one is looking !

[vetting]

I'd suggest you invest in these colors: White Lightning, Bullfrog and Weasel. Those three are pretty well the top producers. I use the 11" with cut bait and the 8" with a fly. Now it's been difficult to find the Weasel & White Lightning but Shortwave Marine in Port Credit have them in every Spring but are usually sold out in a week or so. I'd also suggest you get a couple of their new Agitator flashers. I run two in tandem off the ball with a Hot Spot Apex or another spoon running five feet behind and above the Agitators. That combo has been my top producer in the last two years.

Pretty sure if you could actually find a white lighting online after this thread they would be all sold out in a few days

 

Can you point us in the right direction of a picture of it or post one?

 

Thanks, Mike

[Blue Knight]

Hey Foley (blue knight) we all know you run spin doctors when no one is looking !

I don't know how many times I've said this on Spoonpullers but the only doctor I let on my boat is my old family doctor and he's too old to spin LOL!

[BrokeOff]

yea a picture of it would be good, weasel one too

[Blue Knight]

Well here we go. I'm showing both sides of the flashers. All three flashers are glow in the dark. White Lightning has two glow strips on the back so both sides glow. #1 is White Lightning #2 is Weasel & #3 is Bullfrog

[Blue Knight]

Here's Weasel 

[Blue Knight]

Then Bullfrog: 

[super_hawk2012]

What's the difference in performance between the 8" and 11"

[BrokeOff]

I used a hot spot flasher that looked identical to the white lightning this year only chartreuse blade.  I had it down for an hour or 2 then pulled it up and noticed it looked different.  The chrome tape with the 2 glow stripes had peeled off and there was some baselayer tape underneath it.  Why do they tape over tape instead of just taping to the blade itself?

[super_hawk2012]

There seems to be an overwhelming amount of people who use SD's over flashers. Are they that much better?

[BrokeOff]

8" spin doctors and pro trolls with a-tom-miks slay salmon

[T Luck]

MEAT!!!!

Sent from my DROIDX using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Adk1]

I have an 11' white paddle, got it in the Dreamweaver ProPack..I tried running it last year, it always tangled up..havent used it since

[Blue Knight]

Everyone has their own personal choices. All I can say is most of the flashers are knock offs from Hot Spot's original plastic flasher which was the first one on the market. Those that have added rudders onto the flasher can only rotate in one direction. As I've said a change in the action often attracts fish into striking. Just go out west and take a look at their set ups. The majority of fishermen, sport & commercial are using Hot Spots. When I went out there I was surprised I didn't see one using an 8" flasher with a hoochie or fly. They all used the 11" running the hoochie about 42 inches behind the flasher. When I first started using flashers everyone couldn't understand why I had gone back to using dodgers for Chinook. I gave some flashers out to several of the other charter boats in Port Credit. It wasn't long after that it was hard to find a boat out there with at least one flasher down. I can't comment on any of the other makes of flasher as I've never needed to use any other make. Hot Spot has always been a great producer for me!

[Gill-T]

If you keep your big paddles close to the downrigger ball and place a barrel swivel 4' ahead of the flasher, you will have less tangles. The big paddles deserve a LONG leader to fly or meat....like 4-6' to be a consistent producer. Good examples of big paddles in use go to Vimeo and watch Lake Michigan's 333 tournament trail produce.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Gill-T

[steelfire]

Second what Broke off said. Nothing beats them in the summer and fall. Just look at the results from the last couple years of the LOC derby top 10 salmon winners. That says it all right there.