Fishing Forum

This fish was caught 10 yards from me today . 11 pounds on a digital scale . Curt G.
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Wow! Awesome fish!!
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[shocked] That's a PIG!
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What a Hog! Sweet. I hope you cleaned that monster, before it froze.

Idaho
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I am betting he wanted it to freeze, that is a keeper there.
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I didn't catch that fish , the guy next to me did . He had to be 80 years old and was with his son . There was a guy fishing next to them with a gaf , that landed that monster for them . I don't think they were going to mount it . They talked about taking lots of pictures . Wish it would have been me . Curt G.
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Wish it would have been you as well Curt! At least you know where the big ones are at!
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That is sure a healthy and productive lake to produce such a beautiful large fish. No large head and snakey body there, just very nice proportions.

Nice that the old guy caught it. That is almost as good as a kid catching it.
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From his photo of the same day in the ice fishing contest, looks like he did well himself also...
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Very nice fish. Wish I could hook into something like that.

One thing I think I remember is that a Gaf is illegal in Idaho.
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Hey Prvrt i thought the same thing but i looked it up today it legal to use on the ice as long as its not on a lake with size restrictions or a protected fish living in the body of water you are fishing. Heres a link its on page 44 6th down on the left.
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/fish...shInfo.pdf
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Well, that is cool. I know it use to be illegal. It would make things much easier to get large fish through a small hole in the ice. Thanks for the info CJ.
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Gaffs for ice fishing only, have been legal in Idaho for as long as I can remember.

If you are going to buy a commercially made one from Sportsmans, you will want to resharpen the point and then use a good point cover to protect yourself from getting stuck!
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I will make my own. I do not want it sharp. I am looking to just hook the gill plate on larger fish to assist in getting the fish out of the hole without breaking the line.
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I use a dehooker to unhook fish without removing them from the water if I'm not going to keep them. Frigid weather can destroy the gills in a fish very quickly when out of water. I don't keep trout so I'm usually just gaffing big suckers to use them for bait later on.
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Wouldn't a gaff kill them? I can't see anyway of using one that it wouldn't. Not that it matters if you are going to keep it. Just asking.
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I only use one if I am going to keep the fish . Curt G.
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I got this message from Dan Garren

Something to think about:

"Per definition, a gaff is “a pointed device designed to pierce a fish for the purpose of reducing a fish to possession”. As such, it would be illegal to release a fish once a gaff is used. Couple that with the definition of catch and release fishing, which states “Effort, by permitted methods, to catch or attempt to catch a fish or species of fish is legal, with the restriction that any fish or species of fish so caught must be released immediately, unharmed back to the water.” Use of a gaff is not consistent with releasing unharmed. Our officers are familiar with this concept, and will write citations if someone uses a gaff and then releases the fish. "
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Nice job getting clarification on this for everyone, well done.
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