Hoochie/Cuttle/Squid advice

[advTHXance]

I don't have much to add, lots of great advice in here already! One thing you could do once you find a combo you like, is tie the mono/fluoro directly to the flasher's barrel swivel ring. Eliminates a redundant clip and swivel (or just a snap clip in mako's example) - as long as your barrel swivel spins freely.

 

[Seafever]

For a normal 4 " hoochy 40 or 50lb test is ok. I haven't tried 60lb yet...but if it works for others that's fine.

The bigger and fatter the hoochy behind a flasher the more drag the hoochy creates.... (one of the reasons big plugs are not run behind flashers...too much drag for both).

So a big fat cuttle fish or big squid hoochy with inserts in either of them, maximum leader I would go is 42"

Big fat stuffed hoochies:- maybe 60lb will give you more whip.

A plankton hoochy or a skinny needlefish hoochy doesn't have much to impede it in the water as it rotates.

But you never know.....trip before last I ran a cuttlefish hoochy by itself with no flasher, 4 mph troll speed and they hit that.

You want whip:- tie your hoochy direct to the ring on the back of the flasher---no swivel or clip.

 

[RiverBoy]

Here's a couple of mine. I tie my own inserts using uv Krystal flash and other material. The pic with two hootchies is a " Jack Smith." and an all white, that has that purplish uv hue in the water. Both are crammed into clear uv hootchies.
Hard to use anything else on WCVI.
The other shot is basically the same all white, with some Mylar flash thrown in.

Some people swear by inserts, some people hate them. Personal preference I guess. Alls I know is they work well for me

 

[hambone]

A very simple way to measure leader length for hootchies is just wrapping them lengthwise on the flasher. A regular sized flasher is 11" (I think). I usually start by tying a 4 wrap leader and then adjust accordingly if it's not producing. No need to measure and worry about precise length while out on the water. 3.5-4 wraps works great for Chinook.