Help Getting gigged Reds from water into boat

General Fishing Discussion
1

My daughter has caught the fishn bug, but lost 2 reds after gigged. Unable to figure how to successfully get the fish into boat after gigged. Tried sweeping motion with poor success on bigger fish. HELP. These reds deserve our best effort.
Thx for advice and tips.:roll_eyes:

2

Reach down and get your hand under the fish and lift it out the water.Gigged fish dont have a chance living very long with holes in them.

3

Fishing is fishing Gigging is gigging.More fun with a rod and reel.

Stonoman

4

Short gaff works

5
quote:
Originally posted by Reelescape

Short gaff works

Thanks for the good idea. Couldnt get boat stopped in time, so I need a way to boat them from gig quickly (with in 5 secs of gigging them. Too deep to reach fish by hand at times. I dont think I could have gaffed them while trying to stop the boat. Im gonna keep pondering.
I wonder if a better barb on the gaff would work?

Thanks again.

6
quote:
Originally posted by fishbowl

Reach down and get your hand under the fish and lift it out the water.Gigged fish dont have a chance living very long with holes in them.

Killing reds that we didnt get to retrieve is exactly why I posted the question. We grab them by hand when its shallow enough to reach them. These 2 were too far from boat by the time I got the boat stopped. Thanks for the help.
7
quote:
Originally posted by stonoman

Fishing is fishing Gigging is gigging.More fun with a rod and reel.

Stonoman

My Daughter would humbly disagree. She loves seeing all the nightime critters in the lights. Dont wanna discourage her love of the sport.
8

Use larger 4-5 prong gigs with bigger barbs. the cheap black ones seem to hold better on flounder &'occasional red…or file the barb bigger on the stainless ones. & always use your best effort to ensure slot size before you decide to choose your target…stay away from both edges so you don’t kill a non keeper. Try not to gig at an angle also

Good luck & hope u have thick skin…as you’ll need it in this thread.

9

Only two ways I know of and that is make sure the first gig is stuck in the head and then stick a second gig in. you should be able to stop if you are just poleing along, first gig in should go to the bottom to hold the fish down and stop the boat, if you can not do that then do not gig them wait for another. Other way is to put your hand under them and bring them in. If you are in too deep of water do not gig them. I use a five prong gig that I have flared the barbs out on also when you stick them in the head they do not come off as easy.

Local Boy, Just having fun.

10

landing net…just in front of the fishes nose…swim him right into the net and into the boat in one motion…I got sick of putting two gigs or reaching armpit deep to grab the things…

I now leave the redfish alone though…

same net trick works with flounder.

xHCFCx

Fish are too valuable to be caught only once.

11

Bigger barbs and head shot sounds great advice. I can put that into play immediately and look for results. Thanks for the help.

12

after you gig one at a angle get over him and push him to the bottom to make sure gig goes all the way through

13

Easy, Don’t gig Reds. While gigging is fun, gigging flounder is better than gigging reds. Catch reds on rod and reel for a fun. I’m sure the reds would appreciate you not driving a huge spear through them.

98 Blazer S10 4 door piece of beauty.

14

So i guess the flounder don’t have a problem with you " driving a huge spear through them ".:smiley: Sorry, that just struck me as funny.

15
quote:
Originally posted by StretchArmStrong

landing net…just in front of the fishes nose…swim him right into the net and into the boat in one motion…I got sick of putting two gigs or reaching armpit deep to grab the things…

I now leave the redfish alone though…

same net trick works with flounder.

xHCFCx

Fish are too valuable to be caught only once.

I agree with the net thing,I used that trick alot of times.

Double D.

16

I use 2 different giggs, a #7 that has been welded together for flounder, and a custom made “Edward Scissor Hands” stainless monster that will stone a sheephead or redfish.

.

NMFS = No More Fishing Season

“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”