Gaffing fish. Is it a legitimate tactic or just plain creul?

A little while back I watched a continental angler gaff a Wels Catfish. He gaffed it behind the gill cover and lifted it out onto the bank. He then slipped the gaff out cleanly, unhooked the fish and then returned it. It swam off strongly.

Now I was as shocked at first to see this as I am sure many of you would be, especially considering he also had a net ! However the process of gaffing it was actually pretty clean and quick. No fighting to get a writhing fish out of a net, just a quick clean lift and then slip the gaff out and in addition no stinking nets to clean after.

It got me thinking...could gaffing really be considered a legitimate tactic for landing fish in this day and age ? & is it time to start pushing back on some of these bans that are making fishing more and more restrictive ?

What do you think...

Gaffing behind the gill cover could damage the gills (unlike fingers ).
I think it should only be used if you intend to kill the fish ( sea fishing or salmon ).
:w

a person should only gaff a fish if they plan on keeping it. gaffing behind the gill cover could damage gills, hit the spine, puncture vital organs etc. cat fish are sometimes gaffed here in the states usually thru the bottom jaw and out thru the mouth. its a safer area to gaff one, but still at the least it has a hole thru its jaw that could get infected.and most catfish go nuts when there gaffed. they thrash around so the point could be moving around inside it causing alot of damage, plus dont know about wels but here in the states we have blue catfish, and flathead catfish. blues have a tendency the spin when gaffed and can rip the gaff from your hands. ive seen homemade gaffs that the hook spins in the handle so its easier to hold onto. and another thing gaffing thru the bottom lip you do stand a chance of knocking the hook hold loose or possiblygetting the line wrapped around the gaff resulting in a broken line. i would never gaff a fish at least not a fresh water fish. i would net it or with a catfish, grab its bottom lip. blues will clamp down hard and spin scraping the skin from your fingers. seen a guy get his thumb broken by a 27lb bluecat. flathead catfish go catatonic when you grab there bottom lip.almost as if it paralyzed them. they usually curl there tail up and dont thrash around at all.

Interesting stuff US carper. Gaffing is a big No No in the uk. The only time I have gaffed fish was while sea fishing but as you mention this was fish that were then eaten.

However I have to say when I saw the Wels Catfish landed it did get me thinking. The process was very clean and quick. Of course there will always be the idiot minority who will thrash around with the gaff and stick it any were.

I know what you mean about the « spinning gaff hook ». Another method to land fish that is popular on the continent (but not so much in the UK) is to use a sort of grabbing hook device. Basically like a pair of pliers …you pull a level and two hooks come together and grip. The idea is to grip the fishes bottom lip although its not intended to puncture like a gaff. Some models have as you described a set of hooks that spin, while others are fixed into position. The spinning ones are supposed to be allot better because as the fish thrashes about the grip will allow it to spin round rather than let the fish lever itself off the hook.
The device is very small and attaches to your belt. Its popular with lure anglers as its ideal for mobile angling.

The grip you are refering to Philip is known as the "Borga" grip which are also scales, which are used for boney mouthed fish.

How not to do it!

Yes I think Berkley and Rapala make models too ...I think the Berkley one incorporates scales.

Ethics aside they are a hell of allot easier to lug about and maintain than a net.

..Nice photo ...mind you, Bob looks allot happier than the Carp ...