Different Color Flashers?

[TheBigGuy]

I own tons of different color flashers, but until recently black was one I'd really never used. I tried them when I went over to Port Renfrew at the beginning of Sept. To my surprise black was the color that had the most action. I was not fishing that deep, most fish were in the 60' range. The Oki black Chum Special flasher worked very well. I caught mature springs, feeder springs, and coho on it.

I initially threw it out for a lark with a small chartreuse mini hoochie and started banging feeder sporings. I experimented with other hoochies and landed a 20 lb spring and coho as well (no chums though).

Who uses black flashers with success. What situations and depths do you usually use them. What species do you usually target with them. Is this just a west coast thing or does black produce on the inside as well. Do you strip the tape from them, or paint old scratched flashers black?

Any comments appreciated regarding different or customized flashers that have worked for you.

 

[spring fever]

I have never seen or even heard of them. Who puts them out-anyone other than OKI ?? I'm watching with interest.

"So many fish-So little Time"

 

[nedarb2]

personally, im all about the green betsy, oki golds, and oki goose.

 

[highlights]

Makes sense considering most colors are filtered out at various levels of depth. No so for black. It would consistently and efficiently maintain a dramatic silhouette at greater depths.

I'm adding a few to my bag!

 

[Slabby20]

quote:Originally posted by TheBigGuy

I own tons of different color flashers, but until recently black was one I'd really never used. I tried them when I went over to Port Renfrew at the beginning of Sept. To my surprise black was the color that had the most action. I was not fishing that deep, most fish were in the 60' range. The Oki black Chum Special flasher worked very well. I caught mature springs, feeder springs, and coho on it.

I initially threw it out for a lark with a small chartreuse mini hoochie and started banging feeder sporings. I experimented with other hoochies and landed a 20 lb spring and coho as well (no chums though).

Who uses black flashers with success. What situations and depths do you usually use them. What species do you usually target with them. Is this just a west coast thing or does black produce on the inside as well. Do you strip the tape from them, or paint old scratched flashers black?

Any comments appreciated regarding different or customized flashers that have worked for you.

Here's an article written by Captain Downriggin that you might find interesting:

Color

Color is without a doubt the first thing mentioned among anglers when flashers are discussed. Every angler has a favorite color, manufacture, and "hot lure" for each one of their flashers- right? Admittedly, I certainly fall into this category too! When I conduct presentations or seminars I always pose the question of which flasher color is a favorite. Remarkably, 80 to 85-percent of the time the response is green followed by various other colors. There is a good reason why green is an effective flasher color to fish. However, many anglers only assume it is good because "everyone else is using it," or "have used for years with positive results," yet they do not understand why it is effective.

There is a lot of supporting evidence from manufactures, commercial fishermen, and sport anglers that strongly suggests flasher color makes a difference with regards to water conditions. It would be natural to assume I am referencing conditions such as tides/currents or swells versus flat water, etc. However, I am actually referring to water color and clarity. Water clarity and color is dictated by the amount of plankton and algae present and it's growth rate. Clarity can change from clear to cloudy (blurry) to murky, and colors can range from various shades of green with light greenish to light bluish hues, to blues, to light tea to dark tea-stained colors. The darker the color, the more plankton in the water. If, or when, you come across tea-stained water this is an indication of rapid plankton growth- called blooms. These blooms are usually a direct result stronger sunlight which has accelerated their growth rate. If you run into water that is mud-brown or gray, this is the result of high water (flooding) or snow melt (glacier melt) from rivers and will be touch upon below.

Clarity and Color

Let's touch briefly on how to determine clarity and color. Color is the easiest to determine because of it's immediate visibility unless we're on the water in darkness. Clarity is simple, but involves taking just a few minutes to lower the downriggers to approximately 10-feet with a flasher attached to the ball. At 10-feet the flasher should be very visible and clear in appearance. In cloudy water, the flasher will be blurry- somewhat distorted, and murky water, you'll be hard pressed to even see the flasher.

Color of flasher and conditions:

Green - The number one color in use for Washington waters. The reason green is an effective color for in Washington waters has to do mainly our water color and clarity. For instance, in Puget Sound we typical deal generally with clear water with light to normal greenish hues year around. Green is not only subtle, but offers a "natural" contrasting appearance to the underwater environment and is a great choice in flasher color for this condition.

Blue - The best conditions to use this color is when the water color has changed greenish hues to bluish hues or slightly murky water. It is also a very underrated color for deep fishing in Puget Sound as blue is one of the last colors to change appearance to gray underwater. Additionally, blue is also subtle in appearance and can be used in clear water applications although most anglers will stick to the green flasher.

Red - Sworn by many old timers! Although red is the first color in the spectrum to turn gray in appearance underwater, many anglers, including me, believe this gray color is closely associated with the color of plankton or krill. The color red is also know to trigger responses from many species of fish including salmon. Red flashers can be expected to produce quite well in clear water however, it is typically used in conjunction with algae/plankton or silt filled waters which range in color from dark greens to tea stained browns. Silted waters, or more accurately, glacier silt in Puget Sound is frequently encountered as the warmer temperatures of spring and summer melt snow pack sending a light to dark grayish water rushing downstream and emptying in to the salt. Because freshwater is lighter in weight than saltwater, this glacier silt (freshwater) rides on the surface or above the saltwater and ranges in depth from just a few inches to a foot or so. It does not fill the entire water column as most would believe. In these areas, many fish can be found a lot closer to the surface because the silt blocks out much of the light and gives fish a higher level of comfort.

Chartreuse - Nothing in nature matches this unique color, yet fish are oddly attracted to it’s hypnotizing powers! As far as a flasher color, chartreuse definitely has a time and place. It is commonly used in conjunction with murky waters that take effect when bright sunlight penetrates the water which rapidly accelerates the growth of plankton. This generally occurs in late spring through summer however, it can be experienced in those exceptional warm days of winter into early spring. Water color may be dark green, but it usually is brownish hues to dark tea-stained appearances. Chartreuse is bright enough to penetrate through this rapid growth of sea life and is visible for some distance.

Probably the most often over-looked timeframe to use a chartreuse flasher is in low light conditions, and we experience a lot of them here in Washington! Even though murky waters should be considered low light, I am referring to low light periods of early morning or late evenings and even the those days when the cumulonimbus clouds are hanging low and scary dark throughout the day!

White - No question… my personal favorite flasher color. White is considered a neutral color that doesn’t fall in to the primary or secondary color schemes. Therefore, white doesn’t react to radiant wavelengths that are effected by depth such as the red, yellow, orange, green, blue, or purple. White remains white no matter how deep we fish for salmon. While white is commonly associated with murky waters, I like it year around because of it’s visibility regardless of water conditions. It is bright enough for winter fishing and subtle in appearance during the summer so I am not scaring off fish. (It is hard to knock any white lure or flasher for big returning kings in summer for that matter.) Additionally, if I troll into areas of plankton filled waters, I do not have to bring the gear out of the water to change anything.

Purple - I have yet to see someone with a purple flasher! Why? I am unsure, but if you are into really deep fishing, purple is a “go to” color. I briefly mentioned above radiant wavelengths underwater and how certain colors turn gray before others. Purple, in this case, is the last color to turn gray in color. Like white, it also offers a certain amount of brightness and subtleness at the same time. Purple flashers can be fished in any water or light condition.

Black - Black flashers are very hard to come by these days as the Cop Car version has taken over by fulfilling the need for a unique yet effective color scheme. Black is also considered a neutral color and probably the most visible of any flasher due to silhouette rather than the color itself. The black flasher is effective for deep fishing or exceptionally bright days and it fills one situational void where I guarantee most anglers never thought of considering. This being on the water before or after dark with substantial moonlight overhead during the summer fishery. I am not suggesting fishing well into the evening or being on the water 3-hours before sunrise, rather that period just before or after civil twilight when fish are in the upper column, active and traveling under the cover of darkness. During this period, most anglers have either left for the ramp or just the opposite, arriving to the fishing grounds. I prefer to be fishing at this time as some of the best fishing of the day will be when the sky turns barely gray in color. If you cannot find a black flasher, the Cop Car version is a well suited substitution.


Glow in the Dark - Some manufactures have now added an all glow blade (no tapes) to their line up of flashers. These blades offer a little more glow effect over the standard flashers running glow in the dark tape. I don’t see much of an difference other than presenting the glow to the fish regardless of how the fish comes in to the gear. Whereas, most flashers have two types of tape- one side has reflective the other, generally glow visible to the fish one side at a time.

UV Flashers - Ultra violet (UV) is latest craze in tackle and for good reason. The fish can see ultra violet from great distances and it is visible at depths of up to 600-feet. I am still doing a lot of experimenting with the UV flashers so I can’t personally comment on overall effectiveness yet however, I will mention that a plain UV blade or one modified with glow tape on one side seems to be my most effective to date. Other anglers have mentioned that a UV flasher with a pink or purple stripe has been effective for them.

 

[highlights]

And there you have it

Good breakdown for those who may not have the grasp of how colour effects itself under water.

 

[ratherbefishing]

I am a fan of the cop car flasher...half back/half white. For winters I still prefer the old school green/silver and the white/silver hotspots...

 

[Sculpin]

I haven't tried a pure black flasher before but have a couple of cop car flashers. I have been following the Capt. as posted above for a couple of years now and have been trying out the all white with great success. I have been following some of the posts on here about spooking bigger fish etc. with much interest.

"I'm not talkin bout pleasure boatin or day sailin......I'm talkin bout workin for a livin"- Captain Quint

 

[overfifty]

There is one flasher that is always in the water when fishing for mature chinook. The Pro-Troll cop car. Roughly 60% of our fish have come on this flasher (partially because this flasher color aside is just a cathcher), including a 51lb white buck at East Point three years ago.

 

[dohboy]

cmon mark, u and johnny used to use the black corkies on the cow with great sucess, i remember when they first came out i couldnt get any at a certain store as johnny and the crew bought em all

should be no different on the chuck, but i havent ever seen a black flasher yet

 

[Aces]

Funny....... i use Purple flashers all the time. [?]

 

[Rockfish]

I see my two favourite Sooke deep water flashers are on the list, the Chartreuse glow and the UV with the pink haze centre and home added glow tape.

 

[GLG]

It’s easy to make your own white flashers. Here’s how, wait until the summer sun heats your dash of your boat, then leave your brand new silver and green flasher on it for a few days. Next time you send that flasher down for a good soak it will come back up with one side silver and the other side white. Learned that “trick” last year. And yes the flasher did catch fish with the new colour.
GLG

 

[profisher]

Purple is my steady eddie...use it anytime and anywhere. I find them to be one of the most consistent during the summer months. Almost always have at least one in the water. The Betsy is up there too. I still watch what fish are being caught on every day and will make changes it I see a pattern. I have a large selection on board and they are there to use if I need them.

 

[Captain Dudds]

I agree purple is very consistent. Curious he doesn't talk about a gold vs. silver face. Since this makes up the majority of most flashers compared to the colour which is usually just trim, I think its more important than the trim. For example I'm a big fan of the purple gold flasher but lots of times in a pinch I throw down a blue gold or a red gold and it seems to make little or no difference.

 

[TheBigGuy]

quote:Originally posted by spring fever

I have never seen or even heard of them. Who puts them out-anyone other than OKI ?? I'm watching with interest.

"So many fish-So little Time"

Gibbs also makes a black flasher. After my trip I headed down to the Army and Navy downtown and picked up 3 black Gibbs flashers with a cracked ice finish. They had Gibbs flashers on special for only $5. I peeled the tape off one side of one, but the tape was a biatch to get off. I also picked up 3 chartreuse Gibbs flashers too, because that color was good this season as well. At that price it was hard to resist.

I have been using flashers without tape sometimes and they have worked well this season. A purple Oki stripped of the tape worked well in Renfrew as well. I also did extremely well on Sockeye and Coho in Vancouver on an old Chartruse flasher striped of the tape. I drilled two 1/4 inch holes in it as Captain Downriggins suggests on his website. That seemed to really turn the fish on as that flasher caught a whole bunch of fish this summer.

Sometimes it does pay to experiment.

 

[Dave S]

quote:Originally posted by GLG

It’s easy to make your own white flashers. Here’s how, wait until the summer sun heats your dash of your boat, then leave your brand new silver and green flasher on it for a few days. Next time you send that flasher down for a good soak it will come back up with one side silver and the other side white. Learned that “trick” last year. And yes the flasher did catch fish with the new colour.
GLG

Is it just pealing off? Might not be too good for the ocean to leave that foil behind. A knife can get the foil starting to peal then just pull off. Left with a flat white tape.

 

[sammyslabber]

you bet purple/gold does the trick for me.then again i have my go to guys @ trotac in vic to kep me hooked up with flavours& trendsa great topic nevertheless. Regards Sammy

 

[GLG]

Your are right Dave S. It would be better to not leave the foil in the water. My post was meant with tongue in cheek. I had no plan to create a white flasher and to tell the truth I was surprised when the flasher can back, from a wash, with the foil off. These were my only flashers I had at the time and was worried that my day would be lost. Thankfully the flasher did not affect my fishing as we got our limits that day.

 

[highlights]

quote:Originally posted by dohboy

cmon mark, u and johnny used to use the black corkies on the cow with great sucess, i remember when they first came out i couldnt get any at a certain store as johnny and the crew bought em all

should be no different on the chuck, but i havent ever seen a black flasher yet

Ah Hah! You remember Not only did we fish black corkies but we also ordered black blades as well. There was also a difference in flat vs. gloss.

I think the trim colour of the flashers is overated. If you are going to put emphasis on the colour then it should be just that. Peel off the tape if it comes pre-taped. Otherwise find a flasher that comes with no tape at all. Or at the least a simple stripe down the middle.

They work.