[WANTONJ]

One other thought about barbless,I got a hold of some barbless hooks one time they were Gamakatsu brand because the tackle shop ordered them by mistake,I saw them on the rack and asked how much, he said if I take them off his hands half price, I bought all he had,they are sharp as razors and they penetrate real well bone and all,once you get the feel you dont have to slam them very hard just twitch the rod tip,we have some good fly fishing in the winter in streams, but is barbless and 0 limit,the weather here in Calif is mild at the lower elevations, very uncrowded and you can have a blast and good practice.

have a good and safe day.

Captain Wayne Valley Fire Service, Valley Springs Calif.

[FlyGal]

Pinch down all barbs, your hook up rate is better as the hook penetrates easier and does not give the fish a chance to shake it off - if you loose it after connecting than your not fishing correctly.

I've practiced C&R pinched barbs on a private pond for years and never see damage or maimed fish from this practice.

[Joni]

Originally Posted by FlyGal

Pinch down all barbs, your hook up rate is better as the hook penetrates easier and does not give the fish a chance to shake it off - if you loose it after connecting than your not fishing correctly.

I've practiced C&R pinched barbs on a private pond for years and never see damage or maimed fish from this practice.

ABSOLUTELY! I also found out the hard way, to squish barbs before tying, have broke perfectly good flies LOL

[FlyGal]

And if your vise has a lever cam jaws it's real easy to pinch barbs.

[peregrines]

Yup ^^^^

I pinch down hooks before tying for the reason Joni pointed out.

And have others have pointed out for better penetration and easier removal from fish and .... unintended targets.

Haven't experienced any downside as far as damage to fish. Fish that I lose are probably mostly due to either slack or not enough of a solid hook up or some other operator error, but I wouldn't blame in on the absence of barb,

peregrines

[Finn]

I am 100% barbless, either crimped or with no barb. Where I do the majority of my fishing, British Columbia, it is the law that all hooks in fresh water have to be barbless.

A good law.

Because of this all of my stuff is barbless no matter where I go.

[Hardyreels]

If fishing for Trout or Char / Grayling barb is pinched down and fish are released without removing them from the water (usually).

When Salmon (meat) fishing a #2 Jappened hook with a big barb is the right hook for me.

[Lambster]

All the years I've fished we've used barbless hooks! We like to give back and not hurt th fish..... so 90% Catch & Release! I've had people fishing and have been hooked by them and its hard to get a barbed hook out of your skin!!!!!! We were out in Wyoming and had a guy that wouldn't use barbless hooks.... the story goes that he hooked his hand the first time and we had to go and have a farmer cut it out and the next day he done the same thing again but got the hook in his forearm and we had to take him to the hospital to have it removed which costed $800 bucks! Barbless you bet!

[Hardyreels]

Hello Irish Greg,

I fish mostly for Trout, Char (including Salvelinus fontinalis) and Salmon. This complaint has been heard, the jury is back and the verdict is in.

A barb-less hook is far easier to remove from any one of these species than the same hook in the barbed version. Most notably in those unfortunate circumstances in which you have hooked the poor bugger elsewhere than the mouth! For those hooked in the mouth a pair of light forceps is usually all that is needed to extract the offending hook.

As for the concept of the hook moving about in the fish’s mouth, my luck is that if it moves the movement is usually in the out direction. On occasion a fish will make a cork screwing type leap winding the leader about itself and if the hook releases from the jaw it sometimes becomes lodged somewhere in the body. In this case the barb-less version is very desirable.

This is not to say that in your personal observations your claims are not true. I have made claims regarding the use of some tackle that find themselves in a grey area. My response is a generalization.

[cb1]

Being a freshwater and sea angler (Not a fly fisherman as yet) my two pence worth (Englishman) is:
Barbless for freshwater.
Barbed for sea angling
Barbed hooks will hold a bait on and keep it's presentation better.

However, since reading this thread I have wondered about pinched barbs - for freshwater - I may try them.
I find that barbed hooks can be hard to extract if taken too far down and lethal in many cases.
Barbless I feel are in the main better for the fishes future health. They do give a fish a more sporting chance to get away.


I would like to say what a great thread to read this has been. There have been some very intelligent and thought provoking comments regarding this subject (For and against each type of hook) and I congratulate all for their individual imput.