Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) > Tackle & Techniques

How to handle GTs - removing them from water, photographs and returning them

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Brandon Khoo:
Nathan - I should add Picasso as your middle name!   ;D

Yewleong Tan:
more info re: release weight

http://www.recfishwest.org.au/publications/release-weight.html

Troy Burbidge:
What's the correct spot to needle a GT to regales the Gas?

Andy Rowe:
Just pondering on the impact of net vs gaff. I have heard said in the past that nets remove the important slime coat on a fish but I am wondering if this is just a short term issue for the fish as certain fish cover themselves in mucilaginous envelopes (Slime) every evening.  I am also wondering on the potential damage caused by gaffing, it looks like a correct gaffing should not be too detrimental perhaps, but what is a concern is having the jaw as a single lift point. For a fish in the 30's and above this has got to be an immense amount of strain on the jaw bone and its connecting tissues, fish also live in a different gravity regime to terrestrial animals and have bone structures that do not require the same strength or load bearing requirements.

Even when the tail is used to assist the lift in a gaff situation the jaw bones are still being subjected to abnormal strain directions and a lot of weight. The net does afford a much more equal load distribution on the fish body during the critical lift from the water. It just seems logical to me that nets are a better and that gaff lifting could cause potential damage that we don not readily observe.

I'm not trying to force my logic on anyone but it would be good to hear other opinions on the matter.

Ed Nicholas:
Love the release rig & drawings Nathan, great thread too. I wish there was a way to net these Geets instead of the lip gaff, as mentioned in my tagging report i think we are all going to start realizing pretty soon that the only way to C&R these big Geets is by keeping them in the water & fishing barbless hooks. 

At present i have not seen any net that would be sufficient. We carry a net on all out boats and the simple task of netting a 20kg fish actually takes a fair amount of strength with the water resistance on the big frame and net. I would be very hesitant using the same type of string net on a big GT as it will no doubt dig into/cut the fish, the answer to that would be one of the new age nets that use rubber/nylon or what ever it is but that is even harder to use in terms of dragging through the water and guiding the fish into the basket. I also have never seen one big enough to fit a monster GT in and if/when they come out where are you going to put it in the boat? For strength purposes it couldnt be a fold down net.   

When i designed our boats i was discussing with the builder putting in a diving door so that all you would have to do is lift the head a little and pull it in but it would have compromised the strength of the gunnels so we never went ahead. As you mention Andy im sure the gaff is doing the fish no favors but there seem to be zero alternatives at the moment.

Interesting thoughts and i am all ears to any suggestions.



 

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