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...
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...