I gaff downwards and towards the side of the boat in a sort of circle motion and haul the fish on board. Keep the head of the fish in the water as they will go nuts if you take them out.
i wouldnt gaff anything over 25lbs, they will rip the gaff right out of you hand, you can successfully net anything up to 60, we netted a 67 last year, gaff's kinda are pointless. if you dont have a harpoon you are going to be in BIGGGGGG trouble if you get a nice one!
As mreyns said you can also use a net, lots of times when you get them worn out a bit if you keep the head in the water you can lead them right in the net without problems. A harpoon is a must if you get a bigun'. I would stay away from fire arms unless absolutly nessasary, hard to hit the right place without blowing the thing to pieces on a rocking boat without some practice.
Once the gaff is in the fish, what should I expect? Is the fish going to go even more crazy?
Wish you would have bought the halibut spear/harpoon instead. Gaffs can make them REAL mad if you miss.
Once you manage to get him/her in the boat, it's rodeo time! Work quickly, as though you are calf roping. Have a 6'-8' of line at the ready with a lasso on one end. Slip the lasso on the butt's tail and take the other end through the gills and out of the mouth. Slip that end back through the lasso and tie it tight (truckers hitch?) so he looks like a rocking chair. No more violent butt!
Aunty has the right idea here, I would just add one thing, be carefull when pulling the rope through the gills and out the mouth, these buggers got some nasty teefff! I actually have a loop tied on one end of the rope and a lasso on the other. Lasso the tail and then I use a piece of 1/4" round bar that I bent a little hook one end and bent the other end in an "L" shape to use as a handle. Shove the hooked end in the mouth and out the gill, hook the loop on the rope and pull it through the gill out the mouth. Then hog tie him. Keeps my fingers away from those sharp teeth. Bleed the fish right away by cutting the gills or the tail (or both).
They get pretty fired up once on the boat no matter how you get them there so be ready for the fireworks!
One last thing, loosen the drag a bit on your reel and make sure rod is secure before you go to net/gaff/harpoon. You don't want them to pull out the hook if they get fired up when you miss with the gaff/net/harpoon. And also be aware of the hooks once on they are on the deck.
Previous Topic
Index
