Go Barbless - Please. You'll love it.

[scaleface]

A long time ago, before the internet ,  Bass Pro came out with a barbless worm hook that had a funny shape . They didnt carry it  very  long  and I never heard any reports on it . 

[DanielG]

Last summer I had to rip a hook out of my belly. Long story.... this would have made it a bit easier I'd imagine.

[michaelb]

I do this and haven't really noticed a difference landing fish, if we are talking about bass. I don't always remember to do this with EWG hooks and t-rigs, but that is mostly because I am tying them and changing them regularly. I also just press the tip of the barb down at times, so half flatten it, which does make popping it out much easier too. If the fish gets gut hooked not having the barb makes that process way easier.

 

I avoid anything with 3 sets of trebles, and have been swapping out one of the trebles for a single hook on some of my lures that use trebles. I haven't actually caught enough of anything to really have an opinion yet on the merits of that swap. My primary issue with trebles is hooking pike, and having a fish thrashing between my legs on my kayak full of teeth and swinging hooks.

[OnthePotomac]

Barbless single hooks for LM for me the last 15 years.  Honestly, no fish lost.  Just keep the pressure on at all times.  No big deal and saved lots of fish.  Challanging fishing, keeps you on your toes.

[DomQ]

Just going to leave this here

[Guitarfish]

But it's barbed.

[FryDog62]

I'm going to guess the landing percentage with largemouth wouldn't be that much lower if hooks were barbless - but if we're talking smallmouth, that's a whole different answer - they go aerial, and never never quit...

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

22 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

I'm going to guess the landing percentage with largemouth wouldn't be that much lower if hooks were barbless - but if we're talking smallmouth, that's a whole different answer - they go aerial, and never never quit...

I was just going to say something along these lines.

 

And what of foul hooked smallies, many of the smallmouth that I catch are foul hooked. I would think that I would lose more of them without a barbed hook.

[Shimano_1]

I never keep bass never have. Have never had a bass for dinner. I dont care a bit that people do as they have every right to do so. I spend a lot of money to fish between my boat and gear and entry fees. If I'm lucky I get to go once a week.  I'm not risking losing fish for fun or money by going barbless. If that is something someone feels the need to do they should do that. 

[Alex from GA]

I've been going barbless for many years and don't think I lose any fish because of it.  The only problem is having the hook point slip out of the worm.

[contium]

I pinch the barbs down on baits that you might gut hook a bass on. Weightless Senkos etc. I was in a fly fishing club when I was a kid and many of the streams I fished required barbless hooks. I agree, tournaments should ban barbed hooks. Especially MLF.

[MIbassyaker]

I would estimate about 1/4 of my hooks that I have fished at some point have the barb pinched down.  I do it when I have trouble getting a fish unhooked -- I just pinch the barb to get it out, and get them back into the water.  Doesn't need to happen with every fish, but over time, barbs get pinched. I don't bother to replace, because I have never noticed any increase in lost fish due to a barbless hook.  When I lose fish, sometimes it is with a barbed hook, sometimes with a barblesss hook. Never noticed a difference.

 

I have also never noticed any difference between largemouth vs. smallmouth in how often they come off without a barb. 

 

What I have noticed is that unhooking is much faster.

 

It is possible I lose fish because the barb is pinched down. But I am convinced that for every fish I lose, I gain at least one more that:

(1)  would have been lost with a barbed hook, but was NOT because the barbless hook penetrated more easily,

OR:

(2) I caught on a cast I would not have made if I were fishing barbed hooks because of time spent unhooking other fish.

[hoosierbass07]

4 hours ago, contium said:

I pinch the barbs down on baits that you might gut hook a bass on. Weightless Senkos etc. I was in a fly fishing club when I was a kid and many of the streams I fished required barbless hooks. I agree, tournaments should ban barbed hooks. Especially MLF.

 

  

   Oh yeah.  I would like to see MLF adopt that too.  If they did I bet it would really catch on in a few years and we would start seeing more barbless hooks in the stores.  

 

 

[scaleface]

13 hours ago, Alex from GA said:

The only problem is having the hook point slip out of the worm.

I was wondering about that .

[NHBull]

Again, a personal choice.

 

The only time I crush the bard is if my Mrs  request I do it for her....and that is related to how often she gut hooks a fish.

 

If your using fish population as a reason, I would reconsider the matter as many studies show that selective harvesting would improve the health of the fishery.

[contium]

On 4/2/2020 at 4:10 AM, NHBull said:

Again, a personal choice.

 

The only time I crush the bard is if my Mrs  request I do it for her....and that is related to how often she gut hooks a fish.

 

If your using fish population as a reason, I would reconsider the matter as many studies show that selective harvesting would improve the health of the fishery.

Depends on your lakes. Lakes around here are tiny and get HAMMERED. Over population is not a problem.

[Jig Rookie]

On 3/31/2020 at 4:56 PM, Bartableman7 said:

When I'm not in a tournament, I push down the barbs on all my hooks...especially on soft plastics and jigs.

* You may lose a few fish...so what.  It rarely happens.  Hook penetration depth increases without the barb.

* You will do FAR less damage to the fish.

* Getting the fish back into the water is so much easier.

* You will be SO glad when you hook yourself and don't need to go to the emergency room.

 

It takes a few seconds to squeeze down that barb with a pliers.

So, since all the "fish safety" points go completely out the window when you're fishing a tourney, I'd assume you keep the barbs then so you wouldn't lose fish. But then your first bullet point says that "rarely happens" anyway. So why no care about fish safety during a tournament??

On 3/31/2020 at 4:56 PM, Bartableman7 said:

When I'm not in a tournament, I push down the barbs on all my hooks...especially on soft plastics and jigs.

* You may lose a few fish...so what.  It rarely happens.  Hook penetration depth increases without the barb.

* You will do FAR less damage to the fish.

* Getting the fish back into the water is so much easier.

* You will be SO glad when you hook yourself and don't need to go to the emergency room.

 

It takes a few seconds to squeeze down that barb with a pliers.