Long-handled Jetty Gaff

[plugaholic]

I only put up the part of the story that had to do with making a gaff. To read the complete story, which details his Charlestown Beachway adventures, you can go to the link below.

Long-handled Jetty Gaff

By Russ Bassdozer

All surf anglers should have a gaff for your own safety.


Even on a calm sand beach, it's safest for you to have a hand gaff sheathed on your belt, and to put the gaff point inside the lower lip of any fish you may beach, then drag them with the gaff well up the beach out of harms way. If without a hand gaff on the beach, you are at a very dangerous moment when you may have no choice but to put your hand in the mouth or gill of a wild animal in close proximity to some sharp, cold steel - your hook(s). The bigger the fish, the larger the risk of danger to you.

A good size for a hand gaff for the beach is about one and one half feet long. You should always secure it to your belt with an extendable phone cord, and of course, a holster shield. When I expect to be perching on rocks or climbing out on LOW-LYING ocean or backwater jetties, I step up to an "extendo" job that I keep on my belt. When not in use, it is the same size as a hand gaff - about one and one-half feet long. But when it's time to do the honors, it has three tubular sections that slide out from within each other and lock down with large, knurled screws to tighten up the whole assembly once extended. This instantly gives me a gaff around four feet long that is very useful for perching on rocks or LOW-LYING jetties. Once the festivities are over, untighten the screws, collapse it, and back in the belt holster it goes! Where to get these? Well, I came across the extendo handles in an army/navy surplus store many years ago. I realized it was a rare find. Right on the spot I bought more than enough to last my lifetime. They're black anodized aluminum. Where may YOU find them? I haven't got the foggiest, but do look for them because they fill a nice gap between a short hand gaff and a long jetty gaff.
So, we've talked about a hand gaff on the beach, an extendo job for low-lying rocks and jetties. That leaves us with the high jetties, for example at the inlets. Every inlet has 'em, and they are usually risky places, especially when you are landing a fish. Trouble is, the rocks you cast from are high up from the water's surface, the waves are usually heaving, plus a strong inlet tide, and the lower rocks are super slippery. It's not good to go down there. A long-handled jetty gaff is mandatory equipment here.

Here's how to make one. Go down to a ski shop. Especially in the off season for them. You may get a price break. What you want to buy are a pair of ski poles. You know, the kind you schush with! Some ski shops customize thes poles for their clients, and they may have metal blanks. If not, just buy a pair (look for the longest) and strip them down to the bare metal. Now take the tip of one pole and jam it into the butt of the other pole. Drill through the union, insert a stainless screw and bolt, and smear metal epoxy onto the bolt, thereby securing it. Go to a tackle shop. Get a roll of cork tape and a gaff hook. A tinned gaff hook is better than a stainless one. It will hold a point better. The gaff hook does not need to be a big one either; a surprisingly small one is most effective.

The gaff hook will have a "tine" on it. Just measure the diameter of the tine, and select a drill bit that exactly matches the tine's diameter. Measure where the gaff hook will go on the pointy end of the ski poles, and drill a hole where the tine will be inserted intothe ski pole. Again, it's important you don't drill a hole bigger than the tine's diameter.

Insert the tine into the hole. Glob regular epoxy along both sides of the gaff hook's shank, kind of like caulking a bead along both sides, if you know what I mean. Then wrap and wrap and wrap lots of black electrician's tape, thereby securing the hook to the pole before the epoxy sets. If you are the nervous type, you can use something "stronger" than lots of black tape to secure the hook, but this is hardly necessary - at least for me.
Now, spiral the black tape up the entire "lower half" pole of your gaff. This is simply to make your gaff black so it will blend into the background. Now, spiral the cork tape up the entire "upper half" pole. This is to make a long, comfortable handle. Pop a tight-fitting butt cap on the very end.

Now take a plastic Bic pen, the kind you can remove the ink tube/point unit. Take the hollow tube, and tape it down on the gaff handle, so the pen creates a ridge perfectly in line with the hook point. This should be in the best spot for you to feel the ridge as you gaff a fish. In this way, you know which way the gaff point is facing, even if you can't exactly see it, even if you don't have a light on.

Finally, always handle your gaff "straight up and down". Never hold it sideways with the weight of a fish on it. Although this ski pole material is probably the strongest, lightest gaff material you will find, the metal will buckle if you don't know how to handle it properly with a fish hanging off the end.
Of course, don't go waving it around during a lightning storm.

http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/surf_jetty_gaff.shtml

[CharlieTuna]

I remember Russ Bassdozer from another time and place. His posts were one of the only things I liked about that place. His brain was like a supercomputer. More knowledge about fishing than any person I have met. Some good reads he put out. He was quite the writer. Thanks for posting this and bringing back some good memories.