Does anyone know where I can find a picture of a vertical flasher? Is it a set of gang blades on trolling wire with each blade having it's own extension of wire (like a sabiki). Or is it a big blade with ball bearings on top and on bottom?

Very curious...

Chappy

www.chappysguide.com

Chappy - check out the "television broadcast" to the left with AJ and Travis. There is a few seconds in there when you can see it set up. The ones I got from Alan at AJs are mostly like you envision -- its strung on downrigger wire with 3 big old willow-leaf like reflectors each with its own short wire lead. This gets installed between the rigger cable and ball. My complication is I'm also using snubbers (saves the balls from being snagge and easier on the hands) and I was just wondering if anyone had used both snubbers AND verticals together.

Eric... I run vertical AND horizontals on my riggers. The verticals, even without snubbers, prohibit me from reaching the ball with my hand. I have found the easiest thing to do is just grab under the bottom blade (where it attaches to the main cable) The beads there give me something to grab without my hand slipping and getting cut on the cable. I also use my other hand to lift the rigger boom at the same time, taking most of the weight that way. Pretty easy and I haven't got cut or pinched all season.

One other thing... If you haven't already, get some sort of release (Roemer or stackers) that go on the rigger cable ABOVE the flashers. This way you can leave the ball and flashers in the water (no tangles/no weight hitting the boat) while you reset your lines in the release. I still run a release off the rigger ball now and then, but I have had problems with the fishing line getting wrapped in the flashers while setting a couple times. Just another thing to consider.
Another plus of running the release above the flashers is that if you happen to bounce bottom with the weight, at least your lure may not get hooked up too. More likely your hooks would still be a couple feet above bottom.
Good luck... experiment and let us know what you find works best.

Craig / slip - thanks for the input. I will indeed play around a bit. When I first posted on this (before talking to Alan at AJs and buying the verticals) I thought the verticals would attach to the rigger cable, not in line and in addition to the cable! A lot of stuff on the rigger wire! Before the verticals I set the "auto off" snap on my Canon Mag 10s such that the ball would stay in the water and I could just grab the snubber. I have been setting my release into one of the eye hooks on the "insulator" snap and that has worked pretty well. One thing I'm thinking of is putting the verticals right to the ball and putting the snubber in line between the rigger cable (and insulator) and the verticals. This way on retrieve the Mag 10 should stop with the verticals and ball in the water and the snubber at perfect hand-grab height. The snubber should still help prevent snags as it would be in between the force of the ball and pull of the rigger cable.

I'm also using horizontals...a technique I learned from either you, Popeye or another frequent poster. I'm putting pretty large dodgers right behind the ball to give a little jig-box motion. It works nicely. I also have "declawed" a few 3-4 inch flutter spoons to use as small attractors on the lines themselves. I also use some small attractors I made myself -- typically no longer than 4-5 in with 2 dakota blades and a few glow beads. Arts and crafts for adults!

Good point, if you run Cannons the boom is fixed, does not lift up like Big Johns or some of the others out there ?

John S.

Ahhh yes... set boom... well your last idea (and Johns agreement to it) sounds like a good solution. Would be good if it will auto-stop with the flashers still in the water. That should almost aleviate any problems with fishing line possibly tangling in the flasher.
So, running the dodger behind the ball (definitely from Popeye)... does it still get good movement with the flashers attached above the ball? I'd think they would slow the movement down.
Sounds like, with all the flashing, spinning, dodging and shining you've got going on, the fish will be in a trance. If that doesn't get their attention, what will???
Catch 'em up on Moosehead!

Eric- I run a Blacks release w/snap attached to the cable and then the verticle attached to the Blacks then the ball on end of the verticle. This works fine running the the lure 6 to 20 feet behind. On days when that setup is not working well a tricj=k I learned frm Popeye is to use a stacker 3 or 4 feet above the verticle spinners in stead of right close to them.