Flashers / Dodgers with Spoons

At what depth does one start to add a flasher or dodger with a spoon? I've used spoons on dipseys down 60' with no attractor and have caught fish, but can't seem to catch fish on a downrigger deeper than that with just a spoon.

First thing about running spoons, you can run them as deep as you want without an attractor. I've caught many fish 120' or deeper on a downrigger without a flasher or a dodger a head of the spoon. Get yourself a Magnum Proking in glow cracked ice AKA "Double Glo" or Warrior "Sledge Hammer" or a Moonshine "Happy Meal" and start catching salmon on spoons fished from downriggers.

Sounds like you're just getting started using downriggers when trolling.

A couple of generalizations you should know about using downriggiers. The deeper you fish a downrigger the shorter the lead between the downrigger weight/release and the bait, a spoon in your case. Guys will run long leads when fishing 10' to 40' down, the leads will be between 75' and 150' depending on water clarity, boat traffic, marks on the graph. Deeper than 50' you can shorten your lead between the ball; and the spoon, 20' to 25' has always been a favorite of mine but some guys will run 5' leads especially if you're marking fish deep at a consistent depth. If you can mark fish it usually means, though not always, that the fish are directly beneath the transducer in the sonar beam/cone.

Spoons are generally always fished "Clean", no dodger or flasher unless fishing is slow.

If you'd like to try an attractor I suggest orange above 30', green or chartreuse 30' to 70' and white below 70'. A silver attractor is always a good option at any depth but with the water as clear as it is these days, again generally speaking, the bright flash may spook the fish instead of attracting. For a 6 " attractor the leader between the attractor and the spoon is anywhere from 24" to 40". An 8" attractor uses 30" to 54" and an 11" attractor 36" to 60".

Dodgers work best when they dart side to side and rollover maybe every third or fourth dart, usually run from 1.5 to 2.2 mph at the ball. Flashers rotate and are more speed tolerate. Flasher troll anywhere from 1.6 to 3+ mph depending on the manufacture..

Good Luck