Barbless hooks

I know it’s a requirement in Quetico, and possibly Sylvania and other areas but how many of you voluntarily removed hooks/barbs from your lures?

Never thought I’d do it myself but found myself clipping barbs last summer. The bass on this one lake were so plentiful it was getting exhausting catching/releasing fish. Sure some ‘self released’ but still boated many, releasing was a cinch.

Then realized the other benefit of any tangles, accidental snags are easier to undo.

Not convinced it really makes a difference to the fish based on their mouth structure. Will definitely be helpful to you if you accidentally hooked yourself.

Not that I really fish anymore but I began pinching all my barbs down decades ago (back when I fished all the time).

I started doing it on lures with treble hooks after getting stuck a few times while handling fish.

I later started pinching down all my barbs to ease the release of fish that were deeply hooked where otherwise damage was done, either to the jaw or the throat.

Most recently I took some kids fishing this summer and with pinched barbs they could easily unhook all their own fish, which was great because they caught a ton of them.

I know there are fish lost because of the pinched barbs but it didn't seem like I lost many and it made handling and releasing so much easier. I even think there are times, especially with multiple treble hooks where the load is spread over multiple points in contact with the fish, that hook penetration is better with no barbs.

In the canoe especially I really appreciated it. If I wanted to release a fish I rarely had to bring them into the canoe. I could just give them some slack with a jiggle of the rod tip or reach down with the pliers and give a little twist to release.

Alan

I not only pinch the barbs down on all my hooks but I clip off two of the three hooks on a treble hook. It helps to minimize the damage inflicted to a fish's jaw, throat, and especially gills. I don't mind losing a good fish now and then because of it.

I always pinch the barbs down. It does make unhooking them very easy and does less damage to the fish’s mouth from my experience. I mostly fly fish, but when using top water plugs/poppers I will take off the front treble hook (if there is one) to help with line tangles and multiple hooks in a fish.

Bob

I’m a lifelong fly fisherman (51years now). I haven’t had a hook with a barb in 30 years. The few flies I buy that have barbs get mashed before they go in the box, the multitude I tie every year were mashed for years, and now are tied on barbless.

I fish a bunch (maybe too much), I’m sure I may have lost a fish or two over that time due to the barb, but I can’t remember them.

Easier on the fish, easier to reliably release. It’s a win all the way.

Side note: i Live in RI and fish both fresh and salt regularly.

Cheeseandbeans said:

I always pinch the barbs down. It does make unhooking them very easy and does less damage to the fish’s mouth from my experience. I mostly fly fish, but when using top water plugs/poppers I will take off the front treble hook (if there is one) to help with line tangles and multiple hooks in a fish.

Bob

Click to expand...

Same, same, and same.

Another benefit of pinching off the barbs..... Idaho has quite a few of areas scattered around the state that require barbless hooks. With all of my barbs pinched off, that's one thing I don't have to look up in the regulations.

I started eliminating the barbs about 5 years ago and haven't noticed any difference in the number of fish I bring to my canoe. Of course, I wasn't all that great at the sport to begin with so I'm not sure it matters. I just enjoy being out in my canoe and having the chance to fish while on a trip. It adds to the overall positive feel of being on the water.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

Interesting. Maybe I'm the odd man out... I know all the benefits of pinching barbs (or just buying barbless hooks) and, while I catch & release the overwhelming majority of the fish I catch, I still fish barbed hooks.

Maybe I'm just lazy but I don't expect a high mortality rate in the fish I release (I'll keep whatever is badly hooked anyway), I've only hooked myself past the barb once and I've never fished anyplace that requires barbless. If I did, I probably wouldn't be putting barbed hooks back on when I returned so... I guess we can safely go w/ "lazy" or too many other irons in the fire to take the time.

Haven't fished in 70 years and never will, but I'm curious about the geographic and socioeconomic scope of this barbless practice.

Is this some sort of westernized phenomenon dictated by Big Brother? Or a yuppie, hobbiest, or environmentalist practice? Or do poor folks who depend of fishing to feed their families, and literally to stay alive, also fish barbless if they use hooks and have access to barbed hooks?

Glenn MacGrady said:

Is this some sort of westernized phenomenon dictated by Big Brother? Or a yuppie, hobbiest, or environmentalist practice?

Click to expand...

I have never fished barbless, but I’ve never been in an area that required it. My understanding is this is much more prominent in Canada, and there are entire provinces that require barbless hooks (Manitoba).

I don’t think using barbless hooks would affect one’s success rate with fish species that tend to fight away from or down from the angler (walleye, pike, crappie, etc), but I know barbless would hinder success with fish that like to go airborne, like bass or Muskie.

Glenn MacGrady said:

...Big Brother? Or a yuppie, hobbiest, or environmentalist practice?

Click to expand...

There are more and more "trophy" streams and lakes that require single barbless hooks. That makes sense if people are going to be catching and releasing fish. If I was meat fishing in waters that allowed barbed treble hooks, that's what I'd use.

Glenn MacGrady said:

Haven't fished in 70 years and never will, but I'm curious about the geographic and socioeconomic scope of this barbless practice.

Is this some sort of westernized phenomenon dictated by Big Brother? Or a yuppie, hobbiest, or environmentalist practice? Or do poor folks who depend of fishing to feed their families, and literally to stay alive, also fish barbless if they use hooks and have access to barbed hooks?

Click to expand...

As far as I've seen, it started with those who fish for fun, and at the prodding of environmentalists (often, both describing the same person). Certain productive waters are designated as trophy fisheries, and with active catch& release and size/take restrictions the fish naturally get bigger. It doesn't work everywhere, so it's a selective designation. And at least in Idaho's case, there is no desire to shut out those who wish to keep some of what they catch. But there's a pretty big industry here built around sport fishing - especially fly-fishing.

I have rainbow trout throw the hook quite often, but I don't like to eat rainbows so it's no biggie to me. I just like to catch a few now and then. Brookies are delicious though, so I try harder not to loose them. Using flies though, I hook them often enough that my loss ratio never lets me go hungry for long.

Pretty much the same using lures for bass. I can land about as much as I care to eat. But due to size restrictions, most get released. And I do notice that largemouth bass are lost more than smallmouth - at least by me.

More time in the air does seem to make a difference.

Barbless in all catch and release freshwater. In saltwater I'm usually fishing for food so tend to go with the barbs intact.

I don't pinch down the barbs unless the area requires it (certain trout streams in the Ozarks, for example) because I mostly fish for small mouth which like to go airborne and throw hooks. But I do replace treble hooks with single hooks. I only keep panfish for eating and release everything else and treble hooks really tear up fish. What's especially damaging is when the fish is hooked on the belly hook and the treble on the tail gets caught in their gills or sides. Single hooks don't tend to do this and I haven't noticed much difference in hookup ratio between single and treble hooks. Trebles also tend to foul hook fish which really injures them. I don't want to unnecessarily injure a fish any more than I want to lose an injured deer.