When you need to call the big pelagics to you

I am not in favour of chumming/chunking/baiting. This is not what I believe the essence of spearfishing to be. BUT, that is just my opinion and if you are happy doing it, knock yourself out.

To recap on teasers/flashers. Ideally the rig is connected to a chicken float and consists of an arrangement that produces movement, sound and flash. The idea is to simulate a bait school to arouse the curiosity of pelagic gamefish. On occasion, a flasher rig can also be used to attract bottomfish.

My rig is designed to be wound onto a chicken float with minimum effort but still allow the attractors the ability to move. I have taken an idea from flyfishing to design my flasher. In essence it consists of a heavy mono mainline (200kg BS), very similar to a teaser used to entice billfish. At the furtherest end, I have a Halco GT Jig with hooks removed.

At regular intervals moving up from the Jig, I have attached smallish pink squid skirts complete with lead weights inside. Each weight is wrapped with “Mirage Flashabou”, borrowed from flyfishing again. The skirts are attached to short pieces of mono attached to the main line. This produces a subtle enticing flash from between the plastic skirts. I have approx 10 skirts rigged like this, to produce a bait-ball effect.

The top 2 skirts are inline i.e. they are directly on the mainline and each has a propeller ahead of it. The idea is to produce additional flash and sound. The propellers come from sacrificed bass buzzbaits.

The entire rig is nearly 5m long from the topmost squid to the jig at the bottom. The mainline is 40m long. The main nylon line is exceptionally strong and represents a substantial entanglement threat. Diving beyond 30m is highly unlikely when employing a flasher arrangement.

The flasher can be left hanging or it can be actively worked from the surface. The mood of the fish will determine the approach.

Another effective tactic to employ with flashers, is to pay all the line out from the buoy. 2 divers work together, taking turns to tease for one another. The one diver will be diving while the other diver retrieves the lures hand-over-hand. The cadence of the retrieve should be altered regularly to cater for the mood of the fish on any given day.

There are a huge number of flasher designs available from retailers and an inordinate amount of unique creations hanging off various spearos’ buoys. Examine the available teasers and teaser ideas and create something to suit your needs.