DIY Gaff for Snakeheads, etc.

[tufnik]

Yep. Heard all the stories about the plastic lip grip not being all that good for the SHs. So, I decided to make a gaff with leftover material. It was fun making it.

I bent the rod using an old rod bending jig. Used a file to sharpen the rod.

Material:
1" dia dowel (treated with urethane)
Rod/hook (from a broken peg-board hanger; in the pic a good hanger is shown)
Nylon cord
Goop (about 2" of the rod is gooped in the dowel)

Now, I have to catch a SH

[Memory Maker]

Looks great .....you did a great job .......

[kevinfry]

greAt job. Sorry i ditched you at Chicoteague, could not handle the current after 2 days of paddling inthe wind!

[chex]

Damn... Snakehead beware!

[donkey fish]

i found a 12oz ball pen hammer works fairly well on snakeheads too

[Devildog4329]

That should do the trick! Awsome build.

[jsnyd86]

Looks like you may be on to something. That's a great piece of kit!

[tufnik]

Anxious to do operational test and evaluation on the gaff. Hope to give it a stamp, "Snakehead Certified"....lol...

No problem, Kevin. No sense hanging around if fishing is not fun. I stayed three hours. The wind and rips died down on the last hour. I caught a speck (or croaker?), but it came off just before it surfaced.

[archeryrob]

Tufnik, I think you did and excellent job on the gaff. I have only caught one and was around while other guys caught 4 others. They shake heavily and that was where they broke the plastic lip grips. Do not take the hook out until it is gaffed and on the stringer. Then you can remove the hook and kill it. It could jump off your gaff without a barb on it.

I cut the throat on mine and it flopped in my commander for 10 minutes. I had to gut it to finish it off, these things are hard to kill and test your equipment!