well, all started few months ago ( a lot of ) with my friend saying he needed a short gaff for when the fish is really close to the panga boat, sometimes the normal long gaff are cumbersome to handle when the fish is 2 ft away from you, this is my friend that normally invite me to fish on his boat so, I told him that I will make him short gaff after finishing some pending jobs I already had, as gift of course.
that was almost a year ago, finally I had the time to plan the build, I already had some Bamboo cuts 3ft aprox and the rest of the materials, its not calcutta bamboo but is thick walled and since its short Im pretty sure it will work, local fish are not that big but some of them have really ugly teeth.
My initial idea was to do a really basic gaff, you know something really DIY thing, colored cord on the handle for visual effect and some black thinner cord to hold the hook and called a day but you know me, where it would be my personal touch on that thing?
so, I changed the black cord for some stronger nylon tan cord for the hook, what secure the hook is lots of weld-on strong epoxy, later is the nylon tan cord to end with some cris cross with the thinner black cord, I was told that 2 or 3 coats on of urethane on the cord will seal it and make it waterproof to avoid the wood to rott after sometime of use, so 3 coats of urethane was added but them it needed my personal touch, it needed some decals with the logo/name of the boat and I seal it with normal thread epoxy but I went for the whole enchilada and epoxied the whole thing... that put it in another level (in my books) so, now is stronger, completely waterproff and looks pretty nice !!
not because I made it but really liked this Gaff, my friend didnt knew anything so, I was about to keep it for me LOL, of course I gave it to him as it was promised and I dont need to say that he was really exited and happy with the gift, now the problem is to force him to use it, he want it to put it on the wall of his office cuz its just too pretty.
for me it looks like a medieval weapon or something you will need on hand for the zombie invasion.
few more for details
the cord has reflective white dots, really reflective, I forgot to use the flash on the camera but it would be something like this
Nice work Alex. Alonso should be happy with that gaff. It looks like more fishing trips in the future. Put out a plug for your friend. Post information about Thresher. I'm assuming that is Alonso Garcia's sport fishing. Dominick
Quote from: Dominick on May 31, 2019, 07:38:34 PM
Nice work Alex. Alonso should be happy with that gaff. It looks like more fishing trips in the future. Put out a plug for your friend. Post information about Thresher. I'm assuming that is Alonso Garcia's sport fishing. Dominick
hey Dom, the name of the boat is Thresher, and he advertize as "Thresher fishing trips", Alonso Garcia is my friend and owner.
yep, thats me having a ultra fresh ceviche after a fishing day, we just took one YT from the ice chest
Alex your work is always above and beyond. Rudy
Pretty sick stick Alex! So you coated the whole thing with clear coat? Your finish looks like it came out really smooth and even. You secured the hook with the thinner black cord and sealed with the heavy epoxy, then covered that with the tan? I like your thinking primo! Excellent work!
Mike
Beautiful job, Alex! That looks really nice.
Sal
Nice gaff Alex!
Alex: That is a work of art thats for sure !! Nice job ! I hope it floats if it ever gets dropped over.................. if not I bet I could hear the screaming here in Canada ! I made a short gaff years ago out of a wooden tool handle, epoxied the gaff hook in place, wrapped with cord and put resin on it and it has lasted for over 30 years. Yours in ten times more sealed (and prettier) so it should last for ever, and look good doing it. Did you consider putting a wrist lanyard on it for safety/ security ?
I hope to see it in action in person one day !!!
Cheers:
Todd
Quote from: Fishy247 on May 31, 2019, 08:45:52 PM
Pretty sick stick Alex! So you coated the whole thing with clear coat? Your finish looks like it came out really smooth and even. You secured the hook with the thinner black cord and sealed with the heavy epoxy, then covered that with the tan? I like your thinking primo! Excellent work!
Mike
Hey Mike
The hook is secured to the bamboo with JB-weld epoxy and let it Cure for a day, next add the nylon cord (tan) which was installed with some force to put it really tight, finally ad the black thin cord on a cris cross, finally I put 3 coats of wrapping epoxy, easy peacy, right?
Quote from: Hardy Boy on May 31, 2019, 09:28:54 PM
Alex: That is a work of art thats for sure !! Nice job ! I hope it floats if it ever gets dropped over.................. if not I bet I could hear the screaming here in Canada !
Did you consider putting a wrist lanyard on it for safety/ security ?
I hope to see it in action in person one day !!!
Cheers:
Todd
The idea of using Bamboo was to make a floating gaff, I didnt tested it but it should float, right? :-\
My friend is gonna add a lanyard, I will give him some piece of the same orange cord.
Only way to using it in person is to come to fish Here and go fish with me and my friend on his boat, I no longer have it.
Real beauty you created, you went above and beyond the basic gaff for sure but wow does it look fantastic.
Hamachi ceviche...and fresh too. Living large Alex. Dominick
Keep up the great work Alex. Think out of the box and make your place in the fishing world.
Dwight
Beautiful workmanship !!
Alex, that gaff is very nice. Great work my friend !
Absolutely brilliant Alex, I would not use it either, definitely a wall hanger, as they say above & beyond, well worth waiting 2 years for it, cheers Don.
Nice!
Great work Alex!
Pretty cool and well done.
Incredible compadre! Bill
Quote from: Donnyboat on June 02, 2019, 02:40:42 AM
... well worth waiting 2 years for it.
Well it was around one year only but I get the idea , thanks
Quote from: Dominick on June 01, 2019, 01:10:04 AM
Hamachi ceviche...and fresh too. Living large Alex. Dominick
I dont like fancy restaurants for hamachi sashimi or ceviche and that one on the pic was "all you can eat" feast buffet of sashimi and ceviche table, that would be really expesive on a nice San Diego beach restaurant.
check this one also, ceviche of fresh caught Scallops
Alex, you have become a master of reel repair, rod building, fishing and fine cuisine. Keep up the great work.
Scott
well, seems like the gaff is working as intended, according to my friend he used the gaff in an average of 30yt and some groupers so far, btw, I re-built that fishing rod too https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=23987.0
PS: I was saving this last info for the last, one of the deckhands dropped the gaff to the water :-\ yep, just how you read it!! but it floats with 100% bouyancy, so, no problem at all, logically the metal hook was under the water but at least 1/3rd of the bamboo section was above the water, my friend told me his heart stopped for few seconds until he saw the gaff coming back to the surface ;D
Sweet!
Nice save by your friend.
The Man
Hey Alex, are those the snake guides I sent you on that rod? If so, very cool! If not, great work on rod and gaff!!!
John
those are not that guides you sent me John, yours are long gone on another rod for a good friend.
the guides on the rod on the last pic are still on production from PacBay and local captains liked them a lot, I have built and restored many rods changing the normal chrome boat guides and installing the TW spiral guides from PacBay, they are truly shockproof but mostly "fool proof" and perfect for loaner rod.
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BTW the hook is still going strong, I have my doubts on the durability but seems that is doing fine for a charter use.
as my man Sheridan said, its pretty cool to see your creations working as they should.
here a customer of my friend with a nice pink Baqueta grouper
You might be interested in this video on how to make a cheap gaff.
https://youtu.be/NurrkaxpNm0
That's very cool looking and it works great,,,,,,, 8) and a fantastic day fishing,,,,,,,,, ;D
that Bamboo Gaff is still going strong even tho is made outta "regular" bambo cane,
my friend which is a panguero captain is beating the Gaff up at least 3 days per week since last summer,
this next pic was a 40# groeper from last week on Baja, Gonzaga Bay.
Alex, even mediocre types of bamboo will remain strong and not rot if used in the saltwater. Saltwater will kill the fungus that makes bamboo rot. For some types of bamboo, soaking the culms in the ocean before using it is (or at least was) just part of a preservation process. Now they have stuff like Tim-Bor for preservation. I think it is borate like what they use to preserve lumber now. You can just soak the bamboo in Tim-Bor or get fancy and pressure treat it. Put the bamboo in a piece of galvanized metal pipe, then fill the pipe with dissolved Tim-Bor, then cap and pressurize the pipe without blowing yourself up, then dry after the pressure treatment. There is a way to use plane old borax too.
-steve