Surprisingly gaffs are not illegal.

 

You have to be joking?!!!!!!!!!!!! The mind boggles.

What about the tailers?

 

Use your hand, much more secure than a tailer. I know some will say they are ok but I never found them reliable.

 

I presume tailers are fine. I seen guys using gaffs last year(disgrace). Asked fishery officers they said their not banned, a friend rang the board and they confirmed this. They should be banned terrible way to land a fish.

 

Tailers are banned in the UK.

 

tailers are banned.. and gaffs aren't?

is that a ruling from Brussels?

 

One sampled Hardy Tailer for sale - £625 to the 1st bidder or else it goes on flea bay

 

have not used my tailer in years ...must dig it out ....

 

Havent used mine in years...must dig it up!

 

Way back when salmon being returned was a rarity, efficient methods of removing the fish from the water included tailers & gaffs, indeed, once secured with either of these, the fish would be banked, bonked and bassed.

However, tailers are only really useful for salmon, as grilse don't usually have enough of an abrupt transition from body to tail (rather perversely called a 'wrist') for the wire of the tailer to hold on to the smaller fish properly.

Tailers, gaffs, knotted nets & other such barbaric methods are not really 'harmless', so limiting the potential for returning fish 'unharmed', and all have been banned in UK waters for some years.

That they are still legal in Ireland says a lot , and if you're gonna kill the fish anyway, it wouldn't really matter if you used a pitchfork either!