Flasher question

I have flasher tape on my gun, fins and drag line and seldom use a detached/suspended any more.
When I did use them, I hug it from my float from 10' of 200# mono. The Riffe float has a flag holder fabric that I tucked it in to keep the flasher out of the props on drift drop offs and pickups from a live boat.

After 20 some years of turning around to check for the big fish that came in on it, I do not recall one here in Cali.
All it has ever done is try to get stuck in the swim step or props, so I don't use it any more. They do work in other places of the world.

Cheers, Don

No, as I hung it from the handle on the back of the Riffe float from a good swivel. The heavy currents I drift in straighten it out as I swim into it. In La Paz and Costa Rica flashers do work, but the La Paz Wahoo and Big Yellowtail have always been very friendly to me. I keep my mind off of killing when I dive, just act like you are part of the sea and accept the ''gift''when you want to harvest it. I feel a good mindset along with location bring fish closer than all the tricks . Strange as it may seem, I have never chopped up fish or tossed bait to attract other fish but that is just a personal thing.
Cheers, Don

You could also PM monsterslayer, he likes the disco balls and tin foil down there in La Paz if I recall.

One good thing about flashers hung from the float... they help a lot with helping to judge distance in super clear water, but when you take your head out of the water to look at the float, a 125 # Wahoo is bound to swim 5' from your shoulder.

Cheers, Don

Quote from Don Paul

I have flasher tape on my gun, fins and drag line and seldom use a detached/suspended any more.
When I did use them, I hug it from my float from 10' of 200# mono. The Riffe float has a flag holder fabric that I tucked it in to keep the flasher out of the props on drift drop offs and pickups from a live boat.

After 20 some years of turning around to check for the big fish that came in on it, I do not recall one here in Cali.
All it has ever done is try to get stuck in the swim step or props, so I don't use it any more. They do work in other places of the world.

Cheers, Don

Do you have any pictures of your flasher tape design on your guns?
I have some tape at home and based on this thread, I put some on my gun and fins last night. I'll try it out this weekend. I cut 3-8 inch pieces and shaped them more of less like a sprat.

After reading your post it got me thinking. (uh oh....) My son has bright silver Mares Quattro fins. And last week he was the first to get into the fish. The jacks came to him, the permit came to him and he was getting in close to the snappers (that MUST be why he got more than I did. haha).
And twice, from a distance, I thought, "why are those jacks swimming erratically"? As I swam close, I saw it was Jake, who had a blue camo suit, and it was his fins that I'd seen from the distance. .
We'll see. Thanks for the idea.

Quote from nyspear

Thanks, Don. Is there ever a situation where you'd hang the flasher from the boat?

Not in my camp, the boat just drops me off up current from the fishy spot... Drops offs, pinnacles, bait balls,
birds crashing, and the best ... bodies of Tuna or Wahoo flying out of the water.:thumbsup2::thumbsup2:.

But the best advice I can give you is, have a beer with the local fisherman or outfitter where your diving or dive with guys that have dove the spots before and know what works in each area of the world.Successful hunting takes research and personal drive to find the fish.

I just have never chucked or chummed from my boat as I was responsible for the the safety of my crew. On many trips on my friends boat however we would fillet fish as we ran a live boat with two guys in the water one cutting and one at the helm. Some times at Tanner Bank ( 100 miles off shore) I would get creepy feelings as the boat ditched
carcasses of large Yellowtail and small tuna as I swam the currents... but I'm still here.:D;)

Cheers, Don

ny, i have a home made flasher that i often clip on the anchor line...I like it for a few situations.

1- it makes it easy to immediately assess the current and drift speed
2- I can hide under the boat and wait for fish while staying concealed
3- if fish are being cleaned on the boat, I can take extra advantage because the flasher may intice them to stay a little longer
4- the best function- i often have fish follow me to the boat when I swim there with a speared fish..they lose interest of get spooked and leave while i am dropping off the fish and especially while i am reloading...if the flasher on the anchor line is seen my the curious fish, they often follow me to the boat and then check out the flasher..this allows me to reload and swim to the flasher for my best shot at a second fish...

The flasher has not yeilded many fish from out of nowhere but I get a good amount of ' almost doubles' from those follower fish.

I like my old RA Kamikaze flasher w/chicken float. 4 blades connected by ball-bearings & a squid at end.

I've tried Marco's technique of chip bags - the mylar works great for reflectiveness. However, I'm not sure if it attracted anything except dorado. The Kamikaze flashers, I could see fish actively bee-lining towards it when I worked it. Anything flashy will bring fish into large radius to investigate... but I think it takes a certain action/vibration/look to consistently bring them in close.

For BW, I still have reflective tape on my guns/fins/etc. Who knows if it works... but if it attracts one more pelagic, then it's worth it!
The only place I really felt weird about it was in Louisiana with Chad... I didn't like turning around and seeing barracuda stalking me.

:laughing:

Quote from nyspear

Interesting. I guess you might do this when there is little to no current at the site?

correct...little current...in no current the flashers just hang there. the nice thing about the anchor line is that the surface swell moves the boat which in turn adds some movement to flashers.

i really think Fuzz hit the nail o nthe head in that flashers arent a fish magnet, but to get one more fish, or 1 foot closer, or to have one extra second can make a HUGE difference and that is where the flashers 'shine' (pun moderately intended)

I also have my RA's taped up. one to break up the length of the gun to the fish and keep my profile smaller and two to get those macs or hoos to turn back at me just.. one.... more...... time and...... SPROING!!!! cooler time

Anybody got photos of the tape jobs? Any specific layouts?

ill post mine up later tonight Hank but basically on the 120 I have a few bands of tape at certain intervals to make it look less like a long black stick, on the 90 i did diagonal stripes on the muzzle end to attract the cudas to the business end and not my hands :@

here is the 90cm

and you can see the 120 in the background of the top pic....here is one of the 90 w the flash on....the tape works in my living room too...see the cats and dogs it flashed in