What SS rod for fishing gaff

Aukai

Aukai

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Having been a commercial fisherman as well as a paramedic, I have always been wondering about putting together hand gaffs for the boat. What grade would be able to be bent to shape, but resist pulling open under the weight of a heavy fish. I may have to go to a vendor/web site, and start looking at SS traits.

Forgot to add 3/8, and 1/2 were the normal sizes we worked with.
 
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For corrosion resistance and strength, I would look at 316. This is especially true if you have to form it. I don't make gaffs but if I was going to try it, I would contact a stainless supplier and ask them for advice. I have found most large producers to be really helpful.
 
Aukai said:
Having been a commercial fisherman as well as a paramedic, I have always been wondering about putting together hand gaffs for the boat. What grade would be able to be bent to shape, but resist pulling open under the weight of a heavy fish. I may have to go to a vendor/web site, and start looking at SS traits.

Forgot to add 3/8, and 1/2 were the normal sizes we worked with.
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It all depends upon how large the fish are. For extreme performance, I would look at a heat treatable stainless (400 series). Several sources of stainless steel fish hooks used 420 stainless. However, if the other end of the gaff is being hand held, the applied force can't exceed several hundred lbs. A hook made from 1/2" 316 stainless should hold up to that kind of force. A larger gape will require less force to straighten than a small gape.
 
I have had to man handle 230+ YF tunas by myself, cut 600-750 lb marlins to get them on board, and in the 400 lb range get drug on board, I have taken the bend out of gaffs before, so that's why I'm wondering. RJ I'll have to see the procedure for heat treating SS, thanks for the answers so far.
 
Aukai said:
I have had to man handle 230+ YF tunas by myself, cut 600-750 lb marlins to get them on board, and in the 400 lb range get drug on board, I have taken the bend out of gaffs before, so that's why I'm wondering. RJ I'll have to see the procedure for heat treating SS, thanks for the answers so far.
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I forged a gaff from a 3/16" diaqmeter coil spring for ice fishing years ago it had a 3" gape and would handle anything that I would catch through ice. The largest conceivable fresh water fish in this part of the world would be a little over 100 lbs.

Getting into 400 lb+ fish is a different game. However, I would think that a gaff made from 3/8" or 1/2" rod should be up to the task. Information on working and heat treating stainless is readily available on line. Here is one source for 420. https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=972
 
Mike, I've been thinking about this and I think if I were going to make a gaff I would stick with the Austenitic class (300 series of SS). It is cold workable and is not heat treatable. The Martensitic class (400 series) is heat treatable but I don't think I would want a hardened gaff that could snap under load. If I wanted a gaff that would not straighten out under load, I would just go with a bigger diameter rather than use something that is hardened.

My Ulua gaff is made from 3/8" OD 316SS. The biggest we've brought up has only been 120# but we've brought up over 100 fish with that gaff and it hasn't budged. I should think 1/2" OD 3/16 would handle fish in the 250+ range, probably much more.
 
Heat-treated 400 series would be like knife blade steel, but I think it's overkill. Martensitic stainless can rust, so I'd go with a 300-series that can be bent. I made a heck of a nice gaff out of 3/8 CR in high school metal shop, still got it. I think you could wrassle a 20 foot great white onto a boat without bending it. 1/2 bar might be overkill, but I hear that Charlie tuna can be pretty tough on a roid rage.
 
Thank you guys, I'm getting cross eyed looking 316L, and Ph17-4 have come up in my wanderings. Looks like the 316 might be the one.
A 120# ulua is a monster.....
The bigger tunas hold in the thermocline, and you need to work them hard, they will give up a little but head right back down.
 
If you go with 316, remember that the 300 series can only be cold worked and you have to bend it. Hope you have a good bender and a die with the ID you need. Then again, I have a friend on the Big Island that told me he welded blocks to his welding table to hold the stock, used a pipe on an extra-long piece of SS and bent it around a big pipe he welded on as a die. Bent the thing and cut off what he didn't need. Where there's a will, there's a way.
 
That I have to look into, but I do have the table, plates, and pipe :grin:
 
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