Flashers…dummy, breakaway, or rotating?

[BadPhish2]

What are everybody's thoughts on the "ace in the hole" setup where you run a dummy flasher off the downrigger ball? Seems like a good idea in theory because you don't have to fight the flasher with a fish on. However, I realize you lose the benefit of a flasher giving action to a lure that doesn't have any of it's own (like a hoochie). Seems like those breakaway flashers would be the best of both worlds, but are there any disadvantages to those?

Also, does anybody run those rotating agitator flashers deep in the Sound or is that more of an estuary/top of the water column deal? Seems like those could be a good option for your whisky rod out the back with a little lead to target pinks or coho...

[olympic]

The "Ace in the hole" set up is a good option for the reasons you mentioned but you do not use it with lures that have no action of their own such as a hoochie. There are many types of lures to choose from such as spoons, rotating herring, plugs, etc. I haven't used a break away flasher yet because I have lots of the traditional ones on hand. One advantage to a traditional flasher is if a fish hits your spoon or hoochie (which I usually pull) and misses, and does not pull it out of the downrigger release clip, your gear is still fishing effectively. The fish could come around and hit it again. With the break away, the action will be dramatically different, but the fight will probably be better, I would guess. Also, I wonder if the release on the flasher would wear out over time?? I am sure there are lots of guys who swear by them, and maybe some who swear at them! I just thought I would share my thoughts here.

[BadPhish2]

Thanks Olympic. You make a good point about false trips on the breakaways. I have only fished the traditional flashers and was wondering if I was missing the boat on those breakaways. I suppose I could spend $15 and find out for myself.

I think I'm going to experiment with throwing some of those rotating flashers (Fish Flashes,Short Bus, etc.) out in the Sound this year with spoons and herring, especially when I'm not too deep in the water column.