So Where's the Gaff?

I have been doing the fishing 101 thing for nearly eight years now out of Marathon. In that time I have gotten pretty good at making do with whatever is at hand to catch fish. While I have a pretty good checklist, sometimes the crews bring so much stuff that I don't get everything. Today, about 12 miles off the beach I noticed that we didn't have a gaff.

About ten minutes later we hook up a thirty pound dolphin. While my angler Troy fights the fish I am trying to figure out just how the heck am I going to get the fish in the boat. I make a tail rope for the fish just in case I can get the fish to play nice.

The fish of course doesn't want to play nice. So I start thinking I am going to have to lip the fish. Normally, I have a pair of pretty heavy gloves in my bag, but since the boat was so overloaded with gear, I left my tackle bag at the dock.

Grabbing a hand towel, I lip my first thirty pound dolphin. This is not a technique I recommend. While it worked, it was not exactly fun. Anyhow, here is a photo of my first bass handled dolphin.



Back at the dock, a buddy uses his Bocagrip to weight the fish. Twenty-nine pounds at the dock. I mention that the Bocagrip could have come in handy. My angler Troy, says, "Oh! I have one of those on the boat."

Oh well, Troy has now ordered a mount for his personal best dolphin which was fifty-seven inches long. Troy seems to have enjoyed fishing the Florida Keys even without a gaff.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas