Blue Knight

I've run 4 Scotty Pro Packs for a good number of years as have a number of other charter skippers on the north side of the Lake. I can't understand how that can happen. I've never heard of that before. I've run Big Jons, & Scotty manuals & I'll never run anything but Scottys.

I've got one sitting in my workshop downstairs. They originally were selling for around $100.00 Cdn but now you can buy them for $10.00. That should tell you something right there. Every time I had the thing down it drove me crazy. When the line moved in & out the rod moved up & down & I got sick of grabbing for the rod thinking I had a hit. It won't be going on the boat anytime soon.

Mick just to clarify the second type of flasher was a Hot Spot. It's too bad it cut short or you would have seen the change in direction of rotation.

Gambler is right on with the difference in the action. Dodgers were the mainstay in the 70 & 80's when coho were the main target. Dodgers aren't very speed tolerant & with todays spoons that are normally run much faster it's tough to run a combination. Hot Spot were the first to bring out a plastic flasher & they've been copied by a number of other companies now. You can run them at any speed. On the west coast the commercial fleets are running them around 4.5 knots. I was one of the first to run their flasher on the north side of the lake & now it's hard to find a boat with at least one flasher down. I usually run my deep rod with an 11" Hot Spot & cut bait followed by another 11" with cut bait on the other side. My next two rods are either an 8" with a fly or trailing an Apex or a clean spoon or Apex. Dipsy rods are both 8" with flies or an Apex. The one thing the other flashers have yet to be able to come up with is that the Hot Spot can change direction of rotation. Everyone knows a change of speed or direction can trigger a strike even when it's tough fishing.

Just thought I'd better introduce myself. I've been fishing the north side of Lake Ontario for thirty years & running Blue Knight Fishing Charters for 25 years. I'm a member of the Ontario Sportfishing Guides Assoc. & the Ontario Pro Staffer for Hot Spot Fishing & Lures. I've been a member of Spoonpullers for a couple of years now. Now I've retired from Peel Regional Police I'll even have more time to fish. Good to be onboard!