"Gaffers"

[tunanut]

a gaffer about to become a nut-buster.

[scattered_grass]

a gaffer about to become a nut-buster.

that's great!!

[Motivator]

Great picture!

[zar2754]

canyon bluefish......

[Fishin-N-Wishin]

GrassMan,

No question, the three bulls being held by the anglers are nice, big dolphin. We didn't call them gaffers down in Cabo. Nor did we keep bailers or slingers unless for bait, for which we preferred tuna or skipjack. Severe limits on the charter fleet of over 200 boats (5 fish per boat at the time for those who fished legally) was obviously the reason why we had so many big-to-huge dolphin down there. It was sort of a forced conservation thing and it sure seemed to work. I have never seen a place with as many big dolphin on a regular basis as Cabo.

Then came the longliners. Then they started to target dolphin. They took and are taking huge numbers. Now the game has changed radically. Way, way less dolphin and vastly smaller numbers of big ones.

Dolphin are a gamefish in Mexico. It is illegal to commercial fish for them. Yet many hundreds of boats do. The vast majority of those dolphins are sold in the U.S.

I don't want to turn this thread into recreational vs. commercial but Capt. Fred, you hit the nail on the head as to reason why so many species are decreasing in numbers. And to add, it's the old "by-catch" BS that really burns my butt! Long lining needs to be abolished, that simple!

Nice fish in the last photo and to the first pics, good eats!

[C-Note]

we call the little ones vinegar dippers...nut buster is hilarious. I remember one time my buddy who is famous on here gaffed a big doplin brought it over it went crazy and slapped his wife in the kisser. Not good but very very funny. She was not hurt.

[gottaflylee]

Those who have been around goodly numbers of truly big dolphin are painfully aware of what I call their "Testicular targeting talents" in my books. Man, their aim is amazing and they can hurt ya and endanger future generations! a lo And a bite from a big can really do t of damage, to say nothing of the potential infection...been there, done that. We discuss the cure for those in detail in my Dolphin book.

Oh, and dorado/dolphin are responsible for more hooks, treble or one of a double set finding their way into cherished body parts and then jerking the heck out of them...yeeow...than any other fish! We cure that too in the book.

Little dolphin, no matter what you call them, are a lot of fun, especially on light tackle. And they surely do eat good, no matter the size. But still, when I see some of the outright slaughters of dinky little ones I can't help but think that there would be more of the bigger, even more fun to catch models and some of those giants if there were some kind of reasonable limit put on them.

Little ones are cool as heck, but a nice-to-huge, forty to eighty pound bull is an awesome and near unforgetable animal and just one provides as much meat as a whole bunch of little dinky ones. No matter how you slice them, though, they sure are a great fish!

Oh Capt Fred, this so made me laugh...
Years ago I ran a boat for one of the retired VPs of AT&T. Bill was a big fly fisher and loved to do it in the salt. One day we found a nice grass mat on a slick calm day, I backed the boat up to it and started chumming and Bill was on some nice 20+ pounders on fly will the other guest had them on some very light Trout rods. That boat had a swim platform that I heated but was nice to get his wife on and off the boat.

Well I thought I would stand on the platform as the back of the boat was full with 5 anglers, all hooked up and a mate chumming them to the boat. I would gaff and bait from there. Bill got a really nice bull to the boat and there was another one with him. I gaffed that fish and stuffed him into the box and something grabbed my big toe and almost pulled me in. I turned to see that other big bull hanging onto my toe, pulling for all he could. Something took over, survivor mode I guess and I gaffed that fish and over I went with one hand on the gaff and the other on the swim platform with that big bull still fighting. The mate hoped over and grabbed the gaff and he went into the box.

Took 3 weeks for that toe to heal and Bill still reminds me about it 10 years later every time we see each other. Thanks for bringing that back to my mind. Glad that did not make it on film. If memory serves me right, Bill went to Cabo and fished with you a few years before that. He and Bart Miller are friends.

[Fishin-N-Wishin]

Funny! I imagine your toe looked more like bait after!

[000's]

Oh Capt Fred, this so made me laugh...
Years ago I ran a boat for one of the retired VPs of AT&T. Bill was a big fly fisher and loved to do it in the salt. One day we found a nice grass mat on a slick calm day, I backed the boat up to it and started chumming and Bill was on some nice 20+ pounders on fly will the other guest had them on some very light Trout rods. That boat had a swim platform that I heated but was nice to get his wife on and off the boat.

Well I thought I would stand on the platform as the back of the boat was full with 5 anglers, all hooked up and a mate chumming them to the boat. I would gaff and bait from there. Bill got a really nice bull to the boat and there was another one with him. I gaffed that fish and stuffed him into the box and something grabbed my big toe and almost pulled me in. I turned to see that other big bull hanging onto my toe, pulling for all he could. Something took over, survivor mode I guess and I gaffed that fish and over I went with one hand on the gaff and the other on the swim platform with that big bull still fighting. The mate hoped over and grabbed the gaff and he went into the box.

Took 3 weeks for that toe to heal and Bill still reminds me about it 10 years later every time we see each other. Thanks for bringing that back to my mind. Glad that did not make it on film. If memory serves me right, Bill went to Cabo and fished with you a few years before that. He and Bart Miller are friends.

Video would be priceless of that!!!!!!!!!! LMAO

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Oh Capt Fred, this so made me laugh...
Years ago I ran a boat for one of the retired VPs of AT&T. Bill was a big fly fisher and loved to do it in the salt. One day we found a nice grass mat on a slick calm day, I backed the boat up to it and started chumming and Bill was on some nice 20+ pounders on fly will the other guest had them on some very light Trout rods. That boat had a swim platform that I heated but was nice to get his wife on and off the boat.

Well I thought I would stand on the platform as the back of the boat was full with 5 anglers, all hooked up and a mate chumming them to the boat. I would gaff and bait from there. Bill got a really nice bull to the boat and there was another one with him. I gaffed that fish and stuffed him into the box and something grabbed my big toe and almost pulled me in. I turned to see that other big bull hanging onto my toe, pulling for all he could. Something took over, survivor mode I guess and I gaffed that fish and over I went with one hand on the gaff and the other on the swim platform with that big bull still fighting. The mate hoped over and grabbed the gaff and he went into the box.

Took 3 weeks for that toe to heal and Bill still reminds me about it 10 years later every time we see each other. Thanks for bringing that back to my mind. Glad that did not make it on film. If memory serves me right, Bill went to Cabo and fished with you a few years before that. He and Bart Miller are friends.

THIS BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES! Hilarious!
Holwachagot