# Tarpon gaff?



## Tarponchaser

Where can one get a gaff like the ones used on the ProTarpon tv show??

Hand gaff with keeper thing... plus rope ??

TC


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## Scott

http://southchathamtackle.com/store/store.php?crn=207&rn=414&action=show_detail


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## metal man

www.lockjawgaff.com


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## Tarponchaser

Now that's what I'm talking about. A definite boost to the economy.

Thanks,

TC


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## GulfCoast220Trout

When I fished Costa Rica we caught large Tarpon until we said mercy. It was awesome but after each person on the boat caught 3 each within a three hour period we were all whipppppped. Rods were constantly bent - sometimes triple hook-ups. Fish from 85-200 pounds - some looked like horses when they jumped out of the water. Not bull ******** - Tarpon were hitting our guides bait hooks when they were trying to catch our live bait first thing in the morning. We only fished until 11 AM each morning - we were done.

The guides never gaffed one of our Tarpon. They would make us fight the fish until the fish tired enough so that they could grab it and take the hook out of its mouth. 

I asked why they would not gaff the Tarpon in the bottom lip like all us Texans do and they said that: Tarpon feed by sucking thier bait into their mouths and if they have a hole in their bottom lip it restricts their water intake therefore makes it harder for the Tarpon to feed. They were very LARGE on catch and release and protecting the Tarpon - which is great. I don't know the truth to the hole in the bottom lip deal but all Texas Tarpon fisher men should at least know the deal. They definelty never put a rope around the fish.

I guess us Texan fishermen thing we are roping and killing hogs.


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## TrueblueTexican

*Never gaffed a tarpon in my life*

Lipped em all, and it gets harder as I get older, a good pair of no cut gloves and a firm grip -

200# class fish too -- all on single circles - wouldn't wanna get close with a multi hook lure though.


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## Scott

GulfCoast220Trout said:


> I asked why they would not gaff the Tarpon in the bottom lip like all us Texans do and they said that: Tarpon feed by sucking thier bait into their mouths and if they have a hole in their bottom lip it restricts their water intake therefore makes it harder for the Tarpon to feed. They were very LARGE on catch and release and protecting the Tarpon - which is great. I don't know the truth to the hole in the bottom lip deal but all Texas Tarpon fisher men should at least know the deal. They definelty never put a rope around the fish.


In all our tagging that we do with satellite tags, they all have to be lip gaffed to handle them. None of them have died because we thought the lip gaff effected them. Plenty survived for months afterwards. While you shouldn't lip gaff if you don't have too, it is a bigger deal not to lift them out of the water with the gaff and hang them up.

A graduate student years ago made a video of baby tarpon feeding with high speed film and showed that tarpon are not as much suction feeders as we thought. They are more lunge and grab feeders per his research.'

At least that's the science end of it for what it's worth. They are probably a combo of both techniques but no indication a lip gaff hole is going to make them starve to death.


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## jared_simonetti

http://www.lockjawgaff.com/ is the best gaff on the market for tarpon fisherman. But Don't recommend gaffing them unless it is comepletely nesscary. As it's not good for the fish. I handled countless tarpon and all you need is a good set of gloves.


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## Tarponchaser

If you whip a large fish till you can handle it with your hands ... I think the fish is so exausted that the recovery would be harder than one gaffed and released asap.

TC


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## cpthook

Tarponchaser said:


> If you whip a large fish till you can handle it with your hands ... I think the fish is so exausted that the recovery would be harder than one gaffed and released asap.
> 
> TC


X2

I need a good galf but I'm also stepping up to Trilene Big-Game 40 pound this year vs. 30lb test I've been using, it's just too hard to get them to the boat as quick as neccessary for a solid release. I'm staying with 100lb mono leader because I've never had a problem with it even on big fish and easy to tie knots.


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## marc

cpthook said:


> X2
> 
> I need a good galf but I'm also stepping up to Trilene Big-Game 40 pound this year vs. 30lb test I've been using, it's just too hard to get them to the boat as quick as neccessary for a solid release. I'm staying with 100lb mono leader because I've never had a problem with it even on big fish and easy to tie knots.


You may want to go bigger than that. We spooled up with 50# Bullbuster (blue) and only had a couple spool us last year. This year we are loading up with 80 braid... just five months until we can test it out...

TC said it would work


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## jcgomez

No need to gaff and while you are at it, no need to take them out of the water. Treat them like a girlfriend, not an ex-girlfriend.


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## Swells

jcgomez said:


> No need to gaff and while you are at it, no need to take them out of the water. Treat them like a girlfriend, not an ex-girlfriend.


X2.

Down here by SPI our tarpon don't get quite a large as those off the upper Texas coast and of course Florida. So many down here fly fish for them with 10/0 and 12/0 rods, or use line class such as a trout pole beefed up with some braided line (12-17# line class). A fight can take as much as an hour but to my knowledge, we never once lost a tarpon, and they seem to revive themselves just fine. *No gaffs*, no lifting out of the water, and to tell the truth we rarely tag them.


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## Scott

Swells said:


> X2.
> 
> Down here by SPI our tarpon don't get quite a large as those off the upper Texas coast and of course Florida. So many down here fly fish for them with 10/0 and 12/0 rods, or use line class such as a trout pole beefed up with some braided line (12-17# line class). A fight can take as much as an hour but to my knowledge, we never once lost a tarpon, and they seem to revive themselves just fine. *No gaffs*, no lifting out of the water, and to tell the truth we rarely tag them.


Please contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife guys and get some DNA tagging kits and use some of those. Just google it or go off of the ProjectTarpon.com research page and I think there is a link there.


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## Spook

*ARC DeHooker and Tarpon*

We have had great success using ARC DeHookers to release large tarpon without the need for gaffs.


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