Clifton, What else do you do with your index finger while holding a flatpick? When I hold a flatpick, my index finger is used up doing that.

If you watch the Nashville musicians on television closely, you'll see that they all seem to combine finger plucking with flatpicking. Many of the signature licks you hear in country music can only be done this way. They aren't simulating Kentucky thumb picking, it's really a different approach. I think, as Rick suggests, that the ring finger is perhaps the most natural "first choice" of fingers to use with this style. The middle finger is probably next in usefullness but the pinky should not be ignored.

      - Mark