DIY Gaff and Priest
// December 16th, 2009 // DIY
I am so broke, you wouldn’t believe it. If my wife could see this post, I’m sure she would agree.
I’m so broke, I couldn’t even afford a decent gaff…well, aside from the fact that there hardly is any gaff around Dubai that is:
A. Built right
B. Priced right.
I happen to know that there’s a Gaff hook that’s just the right size in one of the local shops. I happened across it while rummaging through their stuff as I normally do a year back. Since this is Dubai, I knew there were still a few left (or a full box) since people here don’t really do stuff on their own…or don’t know any better (most of them, trust me…)
A gaff, is a gaff…is a gaff…right? If the guys around here use it and catch fish with it, it should work right? hell no.
For those of you that don’t know anything about gaffs (or gaffing fish for that matter) it matters a lot!
The size of the hook determines a lot in a gaff. It is relative to the size of the fish you expect to catch. If your gaff hook is too big, a fish could easily flop it’s way off of it. Gaffs don’t have barbs to keep the fish on it buddy! You don’t take a toothpick to battle, you use it right after you eat. The handle also plays an important part, too long a handle on a kayak and you would have a hard time, too short and there’s a likely hood of a fish using the gaff to kick your ass with it.
Since I knew that the gaff hook was available, I had to look for the stick to put it on…and there’s only one: Bamboo.
Bamboo can bend in all directions and will absorb shock which translates to more control you have over a gaffed fish.
It’s light and it floats, Thanks to it’s hollow chambers.
The dryer the bamboo, the lighter it gets, but it doesn’t lose it’s properties. In Asia, It’s almost free, go to someone’s backyard and it’s mostly there! Hell we have a few bushes around our house in Cebu! Guess what, I did find my piece in my work place’s back yard…so I technically take a part of my workplace with me when I use them (that ain’t cool, I know).
Anyway, I put all the pieces together and decided that the piece I had was too long, the solution? A fish billy/club/priest.
