true depth of flasher

[Dustin07]

I notice when I drop my downrigger ball it can drop very deep, maybe 30ft+ before the flasher even starts to sink under water (when rigged with hoochie or herring at least. When rigged with a heavier lure it sinks quicker).

I am thinking the further back you drift you flasher behind the boat, the more it may rise above the downrigger ball. so if I have the downrigger ball down to 70ft in this case, is it possible my lure is really fishing at 40ft?


how far behind the downrigger ball do you normally run? how do you know the true depth of the lure? it seems like the closer you attach your flasher to the downrigger line the more accurate it will be, but I always liked running it further back to keep it away from any possible irritants (motor noise, etc).

I know my downriggers are accurate to the foot because I have tested them and bounced bottom intentionally. downrigger and GPS agreed on depth, to the foot. so now I just need to figure out where my flasher's true depth is...

[MotoBoat]

Dustin, the reason the Plastic flasher does not follow the dr ball down. Is because of the light weight, and flat surface of the flasher. The flat surface causes it to ski on the surface of the water, while in motion. Once the drop back distance is sufficiently used up, the flasher is drug under the surface.

If you want to see where the flasher is tracking in relation to the dr ball at trolling speed. Send the ball down until the flasher is spinning under the surface. Now, bring the ball back up to 5 ft of depth. As long as the release clip is attached to the dr ball, line in the clip. The flasher will track behind the dr ball. The trick is to keep the top of the spinning "arc" below the water surface. Other wise the flasher will stop rotating and "ski" on the surface. There could be some deflection in any direction, caused by heavy current. But, for the most part the flasher is tracking behind the dr ball.

On the other hand. Using a metal "Dodger". Although flat, is much heavier, is designed for slower speeds, and thusly will swim or waggle at proper trolling speed, rather than rotate. For these reasons, the dodger won't ski, but break the water tension and stay below the water surface.

Now, that said. Trolling very slowly, with a metal herring dodger. Like for Sockeye, will result in the heavy "dodger" to ride below or deeper than the dr ball depth. How much deeper, would be dependent on length of set back.

Set back for salmon is typically 5 to 30ft. I have found, the further the set back, the more apt for line twist to occur. The shallower my fishing depth, the longer the set back.

[Dustin07]

very good idea on bringing the dr ball back up, i hadn't thought of that. What speed do you normally troll at for coho/chinooks out here?


oh and next question................. how far behind the boat then do you normally let that flasher go out? I know some guys go very very very far because I've seen them hook up into eachother when boats drive by.

[fear_no_fish]

Moto pretty much nailed it.
Pinks/sockeye you go slow, kings medium and coho FAST! If i rememebr exact speeds i would help you there but its been a while.
I've always gone 30-40ft back, maybe a little more or less.
Almost the same thing as you were asking above but as the flasher spins, if you bring it closer to the ball it will be able to spin in a tighter faster circle then if you have it way behind the boat. Some of the best fisherman i know run no more then 15ft in most cases.

[Dustin07]

Cool, I think i'm doing things about right then, just wanted to make a reality check. spent some time in south sound kind of practicing but the bite is so slow there (even at peak it seems) that sometimes its hard to know if its me or the lack of fish thats causing the results

[chongo469]

Speed can be misleading depending on current, ball carry back, and direction trolling. GPS speed and paddle wheel or speedometer speed can be vastly different so I try to use both but more so i pay attention to the carry back of my downrigger balls. I use 12 LB finned balls unless I am looking at drastic tide changes and I will bump up to my 15 LB balls.

[sickbayer]

I agree close to ball when deep far when shallow. As for speed slow for sockeye in lakes, fast for trout. Kings and slivers I usually keep my DR cable at a45° angle.

[Dustin07]

yeah I notice going with the tide I can be doing 2mph and the dr ball isn't drifting far behind me, but coming back into the tide you can reach that 45degree angle on the dr line and be doing 1/2 a knot.

BUT my understanding is also that you should fish with the current, since fish like to swim into the current, so you hit them face on. any thoughts?