A flasher pulls trout and salmon into range with flash and vibration. For trout, run a threaded worm or grub on a slow death hook about 18 inches behind a Turbo Flasher and troll slow, near 1.8 mph, down 20 feet. The Turbo Flasher is a low-drag, neutrally buoyant attractor, so you keep the fish's fight and land more of them. It works from the surface to over 100 feet and pairs with worms, spinners, or a fast-trolled spoon.
What is a flasher and why use one for trout?
A flasher is an attractor that throws flash and vibration to make trout and salmon curious enough to swim over and find your bait. Cal's Turbo Flasher delivers that pull without the heavy drag of old metal lake trolls. If you are not running some kind of flasher, you are catching fewer and smaller fish than you could be.
How is a Turbo Flasher different from a traditional flasher?
Traditional metal flashers create huge drag, bury the rod tip, mute the fight, and let a fish build slack and throw the hook. They also sink. The Turbo Flasher is neutrally buoyant and makes only about 10 to 15 percent of that drag, so you can fish light tackle, feel the fish, and land more of them while keeping all the flash and vibration.
How do you rig a Turbo Flasher?
Pre-rig it on a short piece of 20 to 25 lb line. Put a barrel swivel at the nose, two beads behind the flasher to act as a bearing, one bead in front, and a snap swivel at the wide back end for your leader. Snap the finished unit between your main line's trolling swivel and your leader. The newest version has an integrated rudder that adds zero line twist.
How do you fish a flasher and worm for trout?
Run a threaded half-crawler or a grub on a slow death hook about 18 inches behind the Turbo Flasher, and stretch the leader to 24 to 30 inches when fish are off. Troll slow, 1.5 to 2.2 mph, down around 20 feet on a downrigger. Bend the slow death hook a touch more so the Trix Worm rolls hard.
Can you troll a spoon behind a Turbo Flasher?
Yes. Because the Turbo Flasher is a low-drag in-line spinning attractor and not a dodger, you can pair it with a spoon and keep the speed up. Snap a Trigger Spoon or Speed Spoon onto a 40 inch leader behind the flasher and power troll 2.6 to 3-plus mph. You get the flasher's attraction plus the baitfish action of the spoon.
Can you use a flasher for kokanee and king salmon?
Yes. Kokanee anglers across the West run Turbo Flashers ahead of a kokanee spinner like an Uncle Larry's Power Spinner on an 18 to 24 inch leader. The same flasher pulls king salmon too. Match the leader length and offering to the target: shorter for spinners, a bit longer for spoons and worms.
What depth and speed should you troll a flasher?
A Turbo Flasher works at any depth, from the surface to over 100 feet, so set it just above the level of the fish and let it pull them into your spread. It starts rotating at under 1 mph and keeps working past 3 mph, so it fits a slow worm troll or a fast spoon troll. Put it above the fish and it draws them up to look.
What are the best Turbo Flasher colors?
Pink is a deadly trout, kokanee, and salmon color, and chrome has always sold well. Cal's newer lineup adds five polka-dot combos: yellow-dot orange, white-dot pink, wonderbread, black-dot orange, and orange-dot yellow. These cover trout and kokanee alike. Confidence in your color matters, so pick a finish that looks right to you and fish it hard.
Watch the technique
Fishing a flasher for trout and salmon FAQ
Yes. Anglers changed, but the fish did not. Kokanee, trout, and kings still respond to the flash and vibration of a flasher. Many anglers dropped traditional flashers because of the drag, which is exactly the problem the low-drag Turbo Flasher solves.
For a threaded worm or grub, start around 18 inches and stretch to 24 to 30 inches when fish are finicky. For a kokanee spinner, run 18 to 24 inches. For a fast-trolled spoon, a longer 40 inch leader lets the spoon work on its own action.
It is neutrally buoyant and very low drag, so a hooked trout or salmon cannot build slack between its mouth and the flasher. Less drag also means the fish fights on your rod, not against a heavy blade, so fewer fish shake the hook.
Cal's newer Turbo Flasher uses an integrated rudder with barrel swivels at each end, which adds zero twist no matter how long you troll. On the older rigging, running the flasher on quality swivels and beads as a bearing keeps twist down.
Snap the rear snap swivel into the barrel swivel on the nose. That folds the unit into a compact, low-tangle package that stores neatly in a tackle box and is ready to snap into your rig on the water.
Use fairly stout line, 20 to 25 lb, since it only needs to hold the flasher, not fool the fish. Cal has used 20, 25, and 30 lb with good results. The leader to your bait is where you drop to lighter fluorocarbon.
