I've never fished barbless but I will give it a try.

aferraro. So when you get one in your body, you just put a stick in your mouth, and yank it out? How would you go about getting it out if you haven't impaled yourself yet? Barbless hooks hook well as there is no resistance, and they hold if you play the fish properly. The one that jumps, and jumps, throws slack, and the hook...hats off to the fish.

well that is a worst case scenario, however if you carry a leatherman tool, you can easily snip off the end of the hook, no need to use barbless if you like to eat fish...

I didn't think you could use barbless hooks for pike, thanks for the tip, I won't have to worry about getting ripped up anymore, well at least not as much.

Crowman...that is exactly what I try to do...make the "D" you describe. I can remember when we had a steelhead season, or two in WA State when it was mandatory you pinch down your barbs so that native steelhead could be released unharmed. Gmae officials would come around and do their no barb checks. Steelhead bait/lure fisherman were rip snortin mad about the regulation. There were few Winter steelhead flyfisherman at the time. I would never see one. But an interesting point. I would hook a fish I had to release, or a steelhead I could see was spawned out, and wanted to release it. I'd throw slack in the line, real up tight, and it would still be hooked up. Numerous times I did this, and had trouble causing the bent down barbed hook to come out.

Seriously. Can some one please tell me where the sport is fishing with three hooks on one shank? I just don't get it. Is your ego so diminished that you just have to come home with a box of browns? And you call it sport. Snaf you're first comment...spot on.

I fish with barbs when I can. I was at lake Powell last week and I got the hook in me about a dozen times. getting hooked 3-4 times a season isn't bad. but i always where sunglasses.

Hey Sayfu fly fishing isn't about catch and release, it's about fishing with a fly rod. Hey Deeter, three or four times a year. Well there's always golf, might be safer. LOL

Rat...And that is why I flyfish...avoid all of that white trash.

i fish with barbs. guess im white trash. ive never had a problem with releasing fish and if you say there is no sport in treble hooks why are manufactures now making more hooks to help get all of the missed bites that occur when fishing crainkbaits. and i rarely ever eat my catch. id just rather release back into the water

elijah..You'd have to know the Rat, and why I said that to HIM. There actually is a debate on what kills fish more so..barbs, or barbless, or pinched down barbs. A barbless hook more often penetrates deeper. Different fisheries demand a different approach, and the trebles on crankbaits may balance the lure out where a single would not. I have used a split ring, and a swivel, then a siwash hook, and the hook wiggles right in line with the crankbait. I used them guiding for steelhead years ago. But I watch bait fisherman nicely releasing fish using barbed hooks. And many fisherman today, want to be responsible conservationists, and release fish that can be impacted by overfishing, and that is good. The alternative is to have a welfare program where native fish are fished out, and the govt then comes in and replaces them with an expensive hatchery planting program that isn't near the quality fishery. And the use of barbless is highly considered when flyfishing to prevent the angler form being impaled with a barbed hook.

Hey Sayfu, I'm having a fish fry next weekend. You're more than welcome to come. I'll show you what exactly you're giving up.

I AM AN ANGLER, I'm not white trash, I do respect the fish and the waters and have made people who trash the waters pick up after themselves. Don't lump me and the others into a group of people who are down right disrespectful PERIOD, because we enjoy the whole experience of catching fish, and eating them.

Your holier than thou routine is tiresome.

there is absolutley no scientific research that proves that barbless only regulations improve the numbers of fish at a POPULATION level. it DOES NOT exist. sure at an INDIVIDUAL level the fish is more likely to survive however natural mortality is so high in fish that barbless only just does not make any difference.

hate to burst some bubbles but if you are into preserving fish you should be more concerned with things like habitat rather than silly regulations like barbless only or flyfishing only

wisc14 point is valid. I have read studies that say barbless hooks do more harm than good. Some say a barbless hook will pull out the reinsert into a fish many times during a fight creating many holes in the fishes mouth. It is called the stiletto effect. I cannot recall who did the study and I am not sure I buy into it but it's out there.

I still believe the bent down barb is best. It creates just a little hump to hold the hook in and can be easily removed.

BS to a lot of what you just posted. Barbless hooks work because those that use them are concerned for the resource. It is a lot about the individual who applies the regulations. Fly anglers, for the most part, are educated on proper release, want the fish to survive, and are concerned about the resource. A number of lure anglers by a $29.95 total outfit, and want to bring home fish as their sole objective having no educational background at all on the fishery. They grab the fish by the gills, and throw them back in the water in a stunned condition where they can be prey for other fish, or have no chance of survival...been there, seen that way too often. Long stints out of water before the fish is even released. Barbless does work. Look at the evidence as to how many acres of water it takes to grow big bass. Most all bass anglers release bass because they know their waters can be fished out..fished out of big bass anyway. Ouch? The ear has little if any nerves in it, and is the least of hurts...how about the guy that comes in tot he ER with one stuck in his eye ball ? Many of you on this thread must live deep in the bear woods. And get the point of the article please! It is for selfish reasons barbless is used..to save your own hide!!! Most, on here, are not fly anglers, they are lure fisherman. Why do lure guys feel it necessary to hang out on a fly fishing blog?

@ Sayfu:
again... C&R is fine for those who subscribe to it, but don't go calling meat fishermen names ("white trash").

I fly fish, lure fish, bait fish, and more. I also ENJOY eating fish. Salmonids are great on the grill or smoked. Warmwater species are awesome fried, baked or broiled.

The only species that I practice 100% C&R on are largemouth bass and carp - both because I don't find them palatable. I don't keep everything I catch either - rather only as much as I know will be eaten within the 6 months they stay good in the freezer - this gets through the winter to when we have open water again.

You want quality fish? There needs to be some harvest, or you'll see stunting, or worse, die-offs. Fisheries management through selective harvest is the reason you have quality fish. That is why there are creel limits and length restrictions. I understand why you do what you do, but it seems that there is a faction among C&R fly fishermen that thinks they are somehow superior to all other fishermen because of something they've chosen for themselves. You complain about "liberals" in your posts, but seem to be no better than them with regard to attempting to force your holier-than-thou opinions on others.

Stop in any flyshop if you are a fly fisherman, or ask Deeter if he has the nerve to tell you what he thinks. Freshwater salmon, and steelhead, or trout...ALL native species of those fish should be released period! If you haven't heard that said around fly fishing circles, you aren't much of a fly fisher person. Even those in the salt are released by virtually all flyfisherman for sure, and many lure fisherman as well. It is an insult to a decent fly angler who said he killed a native trout/salmon because he enjoys the taste of one. Choose to kill hatchery origin salmon/steelhead.

Here is my problem. Twer I a Deeter, or many other fly anglers that belong to Trout Unlimited let us say, or are regular customers in a flyshop...they avoid the discussion that I am now engaged in. They do their thing..fish waters where they know anglers who think like they do fish. How many lure guys will say, "I wouldn't spend that kinda money with just a one fish limit." And that is the waters they fish. There is no debate amongst even first time acquintances in a flyshop, or at a club meeting. All think the same, and have the same appraoch to their fishing. They avoid the "holier than thou" reaction from other folks. They just avoid them. I end up getting into the debate because of the type of anglers that typically frequent this blog site...lots of young, and inexperienced anglers for one. Hopefully I will not fall into this trap again...shame on me! And no, I wanted to make the white trash comment specifically to Rock Rat, but are there white trash on our fishing waters?...absolutely, and a lot of them.

And again..nothing wrong with keeping hatchery fish. That is why they have the hatchery fisheries. And I said I fished for food..I am a food gatherer, but choose to gather fish food for a fish that can't be impacted by over fishing.

i eat some fish i release some fish, i always tend to fish barbless when i can because i once hooked my self and had to shove the hook through my flesh to cut the barb. Never again will I do that.

There are "white trash" idiots found on most all waters. No doubt, and they're a problem for ethical, conservation-minded fishermen everywhere. They give us a bad name in the public eye. I don't know Rock Rat, have never seen how he is when he fishes, so I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to make any comments about his character.

I do, however, have a problem with C&R "ONLY" fishermen when they imply that if someone keeps fish, they are inferior or somehow in the wrong. I also dislike the "elitist" attitude that some fly-fishermen (the type that "hang out at the fly shop") have toward folks who engage in angling with anything other than flies. I can almost visualize you pinching your nose every time you mention "lure guys" or "food gatherers". If I have free time enough that I COULD be hanging out at the fly shop, I'm not wasting my time patting myself on the back with other elitists at the fly shop, I'm on the water fishing. Different strokes...

It's great that you have a group of like-minded folks to hang with, but you need to keep in mind that the wide world of fishing in general, and fly-fishing in particular, is not made up of a bunch of clones and there are potentially as many different perspectives as there are fishermen.

I would also like to suggest that you broaden your idea of whom some of the folks are, who frequent this blog site. Some of us are grand-dads who grew up fishing (and hunting) for the table. We grew up in a time where you kill what you can eat and eat what you kill. Fly-fishing to folks like me is just one of many methods for catching fish and putting food on the table, all depending on what water you're fishing and what species you're targeting. I keep a couple trout and salmon each year - I have to be in the mood for them, so I don't keep a lot of them. I do keep a LOT of panfish, because I can eat a bunch of them most any time. I know a lot of guys just like me - "food gatherers" who supplement their groceries with meat that they harvest for themselves - there's also a certain sense of satisfaction in sitting down to a dinner that you directly provided.

In the end, proper bait selection (fly, lure, live) and presentation for the species and water you're fishing, is what will get a fish on the other end of your line. That is common across all forms of angling be it hand-tied wooly-buggers or a bottom-bouncer with a worm harness & spinner. It's the same thing when you look at it from the perspective of what we're doing. We're all trying to trick a fish into biting our offering.

As for what any given angler does with his/her catch? As long as it is legal, it boils down to personal preference - not the opinion of some self-appointed TU spokesperson.

I had a fishing buddy just like Sayfu once. He would be considered by most, a Class A Snob, when it comes to the sport of fly fishing. He considered all other fisherman beneath him by varying degrees of their methods. Despite this, we fished together for a better part of the 1990's all over the Eastern United States. He liked me because I had a lot of experience with a fly rod and had a little bit of a reputation. I liked fishing with him for the shear joy of laughing at his snobbery. Snobbery was something I never noticed in fly fishing until after the movie.

Once he got cancer I would tease him that during his eulogy I would reveal he was a closet bait fisherman at his funeral. This really upset him even though he knew I was joking. We were very good friends and could talk like that. He passed in 1999.

Sayfu reminds me a lot of my old friend. He could make some of the most outlandish comments, which I would either ignore or laugh at, but at the end of the day, he was a good fishing buddy. Otherwise, we were as different as night and day.

That is why I have always wanted to fish with Sayfu. I really don't know what Sayfu would think of me, don't care. As I have said before, being on the river tends to bring people closer together and take away any differences they may have. Blogs tend to have the opposite effect.

Sayfu. I can't remember the last time I hooked myself- I just must be more coordinated than you. If I fished for scarce native trout I would use barbless hooks, but I don't.

I love it when you guys spend all your time on here bickering. Have fun. I'll be on the river catching fish!

There is no doubt that barbless hooks are healthier for the fish and for the fisherman. My brother can attest to the painfulness of having to have a rapala removed from his cheek. Two of the three treble hooks were buried and were a pain to get out. I was 7 and he was 6 at the time.
In addition, if you are a C&R participator, as I am 99% of the time, then not pinching barbs is counterproductive.

Reminds me of the one time I was young I really got stuck, thanks to a little pickerel. It went in my little finger and I had to push it out to expose the barb. Took the lure off the line and paddled back to camp like that to get some cutting dykes to cut off under the barb.

But, I still fish with barbs, and never had a problem with released fish, except for a handful of pickerel that met their end. I guess its personal preference, whatever makes you feel more confident.