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Tagging
and Gaffing
FROM:
POWERBOAT FISHING January/February 1994
updated August 2001
For the
purpose of this article we are assuming that we only
have two men on board a relatively small boat, say a sub
eight metre craft. Everything becomes much simpler with
a third set of hands in the cockpit to handle the gaff
or tag chores.
When we
concluded the last article
"Boat Handling and Tactics" we had the boat downwind
of the fish and the boat running close, and parallel to
the fish. The skipper had eased back to have the fish
alongside the steering position, then brought the boat
over so he could leave the wheel and take the trace.
To begin
this part of the exercise, we need to take a few steps
back to the beginning of the fight.
GET THE
COCKPIT READY
Early in
the fight, when the fish has powered away after the
strike, the boat may be left idling forward, or out of
gear if the wind is strong enough, as long as the boat
is moving away from the fish. At this point the skipper
has to leave the wheel and clear the other rods.
If there
is no wind, he is going to have to get into some fancy
footwork between wheel and cockpit to keep the boat
idling away from the fish. Certainly hydraulic steering
and autopilots make this much easier.
When lures
with razor sharp hooks are retrieved they must be
removed from the cockpit or stored somewhere right out
of the way. Securing lures does not include sticking a
hook through a guide frame, winding trace around a reel
or anything else of that nature. It means getting it
right out of the way. As each lure is retrieved then,
the trace should be un-snapped and the lure and trace
either put in the cabin or in some other enclosed
storage space. The rods are left in the holders for the
moment.
With all
the lures secured, the rods are then removed and located
right out of the way. This definitely does not mean
having them leaning on the gunwales. Put them in a cabin
or up in a rocket launcher.
If you
store gaffs in side pockets or side racks, it is ideal
to have gaffs either side of the cockpit. If you only
have a single set of gaffs, wait until you get towards
the end of the fight, and depending on the way the boat
is facing at that point, locate the gaff you want on the
upwind side of the cockpit.
A handy
spot to locate a short handled gaff is to hang it over
the back of the helm or passenger seat. This keeps it
close handy and the point of the hook right out of the
way.
TRACE &
GAFF
Now we
come back to the point where the skipper has left the
wheel and has donned gloves. He takes the quick release
double wrap (shown at bottom of article) and holds the
fish in place or simply grab the leader in the gloved
hand and pinch the leader with the thumb and lift hand
over hand.
Now you
see the advantage of the angler wearing a harness. If he
is, he backs the drag off about one quarter, just
leaving enough drag on to avoid an overrun if the fish
bolts, and takes over the gaff duties with the rod still
attached to him by gimbal belt and harness.
A point to
note is if the fish is being caught under IGFA rules for
points, tourney or record, is that if you put the rod in
a rod holder to do the gaffing or tagging the fish is
then an illegal capture, plus in case the fish bolts and
has to be played back to the boat again.
If, on the
other hand, you are tagging the fish then as soon as the
tag is placed, the tag is considered to be legal. So the
harness allows the angler to take part in the
gaffing/tagging, and he is ready to roll if the fish
breaks away.
If the
angler is not wearing a harness, the nature and duration
of the fight become very important. The last thing you
want is a wild, green fish at the side of the boat. This
can happen when a macho angler using heavy tackle for
the size of fish drags it to boat side prematurely, or
when too much boat has been used to get alongside the
fish when he is still hot.
Generally
speaking, fish that have been played out under decent
pressure for some time will be relatively docile at the
side of the boat, with the exception of sharks. Most
sharks seem to save their best for last, and rolling
tactics are not only difficult to deal with, they can
also do a lot of damage to the boat.
For the
boat where the angler is not in harness then, two
alternatives are available to keep the capture or
tagging legal. The first is that the skipper can handle
both the trace and gaff, and the second is that the
angler takes a one handed gaff shot, which is relatively
simple with anything other than a very large fish or
shark.
If the
understanding is that the angler will place the gaff,
the skipper should have a second gaff handy to go
straight to as soon as the first gaff is in place. The
idea being that he can quickly take the pressure off the
angler who can then get rid of the rod and help boat the
fish. When a flying gaff is to be used,
the skipper should do the gaffing. Those who
chase big fish short handed should make a point of
fitting the angler up in a harness as soon as possible
to free up their hands to assist when necessary
THE ART OF
THE GAFF
You can
substitute tag for the word gaff here, depending on the
situation. First, be aware I of an element of danger in
all of I this. That element of danger increases or
decreases according the relationship of the fish to the
boat. Given a small enough boat, and a big enough fish,
there is a very real possibility for disaster. Boats
have had serious damage done when big fish have been
tied off on badly fitted undersized cleats and bollards.
Other boats have had sterns dragged right under when big
sharks have been stuck with a flying gaff secured to an
aft cleat.
It is also
well worth noting that many serious accidents occur when
a wild fish is brought inboard with lure and hooks being
swung all over the place in the struggle. Being pinned
with a large stainless game hook is a serious business
and something to be avoided at all costs especially if
using two hooks rigs and one of is still in the fish.
If you
want to be good with the gaff, remember this; the art of
good gaffing is to learn that gaffs are placed,
not swung at the target. You line the point of
the gaff up exactly where you want it to go, close to
the mark, then you pull it into the fish, using
the fish's weight to set the hook.
Never
lunge at fish with a gaff, or stick the gaff under
water and try to chase the fish around with it. If you
can't place the gaff where you want it, you are not
ready to gaff the fish. The same thing goes for tagging.
The very
best place to go for your gaff shot is in the shoulder
of the fish or in the case of a tag just below the
dorsal, as this allows a large open area of target, the
bulkiest part of the fish to offer resistance to the
hook, and the bone structure running right down the
fish's back under the dorsel fins also helps hold the
gaff in place. In the case of smaller fish for the table
a head shot with the gaff will save damaging the flesh.
Allowing
for the fact that you are going to rely on the bulk and
resistance of the fish to sink the point of the gaff, it
is important to keep the size of the gaff in keeping
with the size of the fish. If you use too big a gaff,
the diameter of the hook will require considerable
resistance in the target to be successfully driven home,
and you will probably just move a light fish sideways
through the water.
If you
want a rule of thumb, a gaff with a hook gape that is
roughly around a third the depth of the fish would be
fairly ideal. A 10cm gaff, for example, would be about
right for fish from say 15kg to 30kg. Looking at this
selection of gaff heads, it is obvious that it will take
a whole lot more effort to drive in the point of the
largest flyer than it will to sink the smallest hook.
Only use big gaffs when you really need them.
Flying
gaffs are not required on billfish under around 90kg,
yellowfin don't really require flying gaffs at all,
though you'd better be ready to hang on! and nearly all
sharks are best handled with a flying gaff due to their
habit of rolling once gaffed.
Think
carefully before tying a fling gaff off on your cleat
and sinking the hook into a big shark. If weight and
power goes in favour of the shark, he can very easily
get a stern quarter under the water, and at that point
the ocean rushing in will continue to tip the odds in
his favour. You could find yourself on the losing end of
the struggle in a big way.
Going back
to that trace, it makes very little sense to skilfully
play a fish on a carefully set drag for a couple of
hours, then have Rambo grab the trace, dig in and lock
up. All manner of things could have happened to your
terminal gear during the fight, and the hook might be
just sitting in a big hole worn around the point of
entry. When Rambo locks up, for the first time in the
encounter your terminal gear will be over-worked, and
with a quick, powerful jerk against a fixed point,
seemingly unbreakable gear will come apart like cotton.
The trace
is there to lead the fish, not to be used to overpower
it. If it can't be controlled with reasonable pressure,
let it go on swimming for awhile.
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