kenn1320 wrote:Jonny wrote:kenn1320 wrote:Fished all my life without a flasher, always did well. My buddy however has a flasher now and said it's a huge game changer. He said he won't fish without one. That got me reading this thread. Thanks for all the great info.
Using a flasher really depends on where you are fishing and what for. When I go for panfish in less than 15' of water, I have long inline rods that are probably 4' long for hole hopping. My dad and I were in la crosse about 2 weeks ago and easily out fished everybody with flashers. Not to sound cocky, most guys had 5-10 decent fish, we had our limits of huge fish.
Now fishing deep water, using bigger baits, or going for game fish, I want a locator. You get less bites and need to make them count. And on lakes like lake poygan and Winnebago, you need to make sure you are on fish. If you aren't on fish, I don't care how good of a fisherman you are, you won't catch any.
Point being, a flasher is an aid. It doesn't make you a better fisherman. It helps you catch fish but will also cost you fish if you don't know how to use it. The biggest piece of advice is to fish the way you normally do. Do not fish the locator. I always mark fish with it but most don't bite. You have to learn how to know the difference between fish you will catch and not catch. Would you ever hunt a buck that is 100% nocturnal? It's the same thing. I think if you are serious into ice fishing, you should have a flasher, but that doesn't mean it always needs to be used.
That's my thought as well. We always moved. Not a fan of sitting the same hole for hours. I run and gun locating fish that are biting. Seems the flasher would slow you down. Doesn't do any good to stay at a hole marking fish that won't bite. On the other hand he says he can tell right when he is gonna get a bite, or know when to reel in cause a pike is close to his bait. I clamp on a lead weight, find the depth. Then I start close to bottom and work the water column looking for aggressive fish or suspended fish. No bites after 10min, I'm punching a new hole.
I have to agree and disagree here. It really depends on species. I have 3 lures I use for panfish. I change colors of plastic on them. If I can't catch fish on those three lures, screw it, I move or go home. Not worth it.
Now when I go to poygan, Winnebago or any featureless basin lake where the fish can be anywhere, I will argue you do need a locator. I have seen guys bounce around with no locators not catching fish and I can follow right behind them and catch fish using a different lure. Having a flasher allows me to see the reactions to the baits. Many times one switch of the bait goes from no bites to filling buckets with white bass. Without a locator, I am banking on luck and a certain lure.
But yes, using a locator requires many of the same skills you would use when not having a locator. I fish for at most 10 minutes. No bites, I leave. During this I change baits a lot if I am marking fish to see if something works. Eventually over time you learn what works and what doesn't. I have a rod set up with each bait I have absolutely hammered fish on at one point on that lake. And a locator allows you to tease fish which I believe results in more bites. Pulling a bait away at the right time works awesome some times. But again, this is only for a portion of my fishing. The other portion is a long skimmer, a long rod and a bag of plastic and keep moving til I get some.
A flasher can 100% slow you down. No argument there. But if used right, it is a huge advantage. Just depends on your situation. I wouldn't own one if I just fished shallow lakes for panfish