To fish a flasher, you’ll need an ice rod heavy enough to handle the additional weight. Upsizing from light to medium power usually does the trick. Spool up with the mainline of your choice, then attach the flasher to it with a swivel, to allow the flasher to freely rotate 360 degrees, producing the most flash possible.
Below the flasher, tie on a 12- to 24-inch leader of 3- to 4-pound BIONIC Fluorosilk.Complete the setup with a Northland’s Helium Fly, Larva Fly or Bro Bug tipped with IMPULSE plastic and/or live bait.
When fishing a flasher rig, avoid the temptation to jig aggressively. You want the flasher to rotate, not flip, flop and flutter. If you’re not marking anything on sonar, lift and drop the rig a few times, but otherwise keep jigging to a minimum.
For its part, the fly or light jig on the business end of the line will float around and sway like a pendulum below the flasher. Such subtle motions encourage fish that move in for a closer look to take the bait, and are another reason flasher rigs are so deadly for late-winter fishing.