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TLDR I was wondering about your guys’ opinions on crimping-down hook barbs. Do you? Don’t you? Always? Sometimes? Never? Why or why not? So I’ve been crimping my barbs on some of my hooks. It started when I was unhooking a bleeder (largemouth), and the barb was obviously causing a lot of damage; it ended up ripping a big blood vessel in his throat, and I wasn’t comfortable releasing him. I do harvest some juvenile eating-sized black bass, but usually in the fall (to thin the schools, so the larger breeders have a better shot at surviving the winter) but I didn’t have my cooler with me, so I ended up cutting my fishing trip short so I could go home and clean him (it was a really hot day). If that barb hadn’t been there, that largie prrrobably would have survived. Probably. Now then, getting philosophical (and just a bit political), I really dislike state policies that mandate barbless hooks — I tend to be vvvery libertarian-minded on most political issues, and I’m sure a lot of you are also. If you’re an adult, you do what want, when you want, as long as you aren’t hurting others or their property and you accept full responsibility for your actions. So I’m definately against barbless mandates, bbbut there are some advantages to barbless. And if you disagree, that's not only fine, it's encouraged. I’ve been an avid fisherman since I was a little kid, I’m in my mid-30’s now, and I’ve NEVER hooked myself past the barb, knock on wood. I’ve had friends that have hooked themselves, and it kind of puts a damper on the day if we get it out, or ends the trip then and there. One of my friends in high school had a pike shake and put the hook perfectly around and underneath a vein in the back of his hand. Surprisingly, not a lot of blood, because it missed the vein and the pike had popped-off the treble, thankfully — there was no going to the “fishing line trick” to snap the hook out on that one. My sister is an eye surgeon, and I finally had to have her stop discussing hook-in-eye injuries with me. She sees cases not too often when she’s on call, but not infrequently in the summertime, so if you’re feeling brave, go search “fishing hooks in eyeball” images online (you’ll never leave your sunglasses on the tailgate again). You can imagine that if you get hooked in the eye, it’s never going to be the same again, and according to her they never are. We would all like our hook sets to be in the roof of the bass’ mouth, but it’s not always happening that way. My understanding is that if you tear a big enough hole in thin cheek membranes, they rarely heal shut (according to a fisheries biologist I’ve talked to) — some people say differently — I think those that say, “oh yeah, no big deal, those big rips heal up in a week” — I’d like to see their evidence. They say that because they realize they’re handicapping those fish — fish that have a giant hole in their cheek can’t suck-up baitfish as well as those that don’t — the suction is reduced by up to 34% on average ( https://jeb.biologists.org/content/221/19/jeb180935 ). If the rip is big enough, I just cull those fish now, too. Again, I don’t have a problem killing fish, but it’s just an inconvenience if you didn’t bring a stringer or a cooler with you, and I refuse to not eat any animal I kill (including mosquitoes and roadkill…just kidding [though I have actually eaten roadkill]). And we’ve all had hooks in our clothing before, I’m guessing. Barbless, you just pull them out, no big deal. Have I lost fish on barbless? Well of course, but I can count on one hand the number of fish that got away since I started this experiment last season. I think it also makes playing the fish in more engaging because you have to constantly figure out the best angle to hold your rod for the best line tension. There are a lot of hooks that I don’t crimp — for different reasons. Like if I dropshot a nosehooked fluke, I wont crimp because that barb holds the plastic on there. Or if I want to land more fish than my buddies. Or I want some bluegill for flathead bait. Or I forgot my pliers in the truck. Or maybe I just don’t want to. But I’ve honestly probably lost just as many fish on barbed hooks during this experiment, too. And do we honestly have to land EVERY fish we catch? Isn’t the fight what we're doing it for, and if you get her in close enough and she pops off, it’s like, “hey, good fight, you did me a favor, actually”? Sometimes if you’re catching them one after the other, back to back to back casts, quick release is better -- just put some slack in the line. So those are just some of my thoughts. Curious about your thoughts about barbless, now.

Hello, So I always wanted to use barbless hooks on baits. Now the only issue with this is that they are hard to find. EX. Like Bass Jigs, spinnerbaits, Buzzbaits (Most Of them) don't have a barbless version. If there is A barbless jig, spinnerbait, buzzbait Please Reply and tell me which one. thx! -"This is my pawn shop"

Last summer I heard something about pinching down the barbs on your hooks. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought until last Wednesday evening, when I was fishing at a golf course pond. I was trying to unhook a feisty little bass and it flopped free. The struggle eventually ended with one treble hook in the soft tissue between my left thumb and forefinger. Meanwhile the rear treble had found it's way down by the belly and underneath the gill plates, hooking both gills with all three points. I had my right hand around it's midsection, trying to keep it from struggling and pulling the hook deeper. Thankfully my dad was there, or I would have had a hell of a time getting at least one of us unhooked. Long story short: After that experience, barbless hooks seem a bit more appealing. The basic argument that I heard was that barbs were originally intended for preventing live bait from escaping or being cast off, rather than for keeping fish on the line. The guy that was talking about it said that he might lose a fish here and there, but overall it didn't seem to make much difference. It seems to me that there are other factors that are more important- keeping the line tight, anticipating jumps, the right rod. Just wondering what others' thoughts were? Have you tried pinching down your barbs? If so, what did you think? If not, would you consider it, if not required? Would you fish a tournament that required barbless hooks?

Saw a few posts about this with interesting [to me] responses. Curious what the numbers look like. Sorry... Just realized the second question is required. I guess the accuracy of that question is out the window.