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| Would like to hear of anyone who has gone barbless - and wether you regret it or would never consider keeping the barbs again. I would like to try it but don't want to be heartbroken. The peace of mind especially when fishing alone has me thinking about just mashing those babies down. Thanks for your advice in advance! |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | My dad has pinched all his barbs down, but he is throwing smaller stuff for pike up in canada. I know he hasnt had any problems with it and is never worried about having a hook stuck in him....which is good seeing is the nearest hospital is probably a couple hundered miles away.
Mike |
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| For me, I get to fish only once or twice a month. I catch less than 10 fish per year, so I figure I'll take any advantage I can get. I have friends who catch over 50 fish per year, and although I'm not sure if THEY do, if I caught that many, you'd better believe I'd go barbless. |
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Posts: 1348
Location: Pewaukee, WI |  I've yet to lose a fish on barbless hooks. I started pinching them down or cutting them off when fishing in Manitoba, Canada and have continued the practice here at home. Just keep tension on your line when fighting the fish and you'll be fine. A sharp barbless hook will penetrate the fish's jaw far easier then a barbed one. If you don't believe that, try pushing a barbed hook thru a piece of cardboard and notice the resistance you encounter. Now try the same thing with a barbless hook and see how much easier the hook penetrates. Let's face it, you'll do far less damage to the fish as well and aren't we all concerned with releasing the fish unharmed as much as possible? |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | i fish around 1o days a year and pinch down my barbs, i have lost a few fish but i dont think any of them
were from not having barbs. |
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Posts: 2
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Have started to do it. Saw a fish tore up due to barbs. Talked to a member of the muskie club. He has done it for ten years with no problems.
Good fishing |
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Posts: 136
| The best advantage I see is, if a thrashing 28" fish, they really do thrash, imbeds a hook in your calf, it is really easy to remove. That is the only reason I would go barbless. |
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Posts: 67
Location: St. Germain, Wi | My partner and I have been fishing barbless for over 5 years now. We have caught well over a hundred muskies with 11 between 50 and 54.5 inchs without losing any. half the time the hooks come out when the fish is netted and come out easy if they dont. The best part is I have had a couple hooks in the hand and several in sweatshirts and seats. They come out easy without trips to the ER or shreading clothes or seats. I think its better for the fish and my body. Jim |
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| I have also started to pinch the barbs on my lures....Baldy sent me an old weagle with the barbs pinched and it caught many fish for this year without a hitch...If I can keep them pinned with a weagle, it should be fine...I also fish alone quite a bit and it is much safer for me...Ben |
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Posts: 33
Location: Winnipeg Manitoba | My buddy lost what might be a fish of a lifetime last year when a barbless hook started to straighten out. It's possible that it might have gotten off anyways but whose to say. |
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Posts: 199
Location: Nebraska | Is it safe to say that smashing the barbs is the true "fence rider" approach between barbed and barbless?
The smashed barb may offer some resistance to pullout, but little enough to be disgorged easily when the time comes. I guess I am hesitant to go mashing hundreds of hooks on a hundred baits without KNOWING that it would be the best thing to do. If the concensus is yes, I will do it. I can see the benefit of easier penetration with my occasional "less than stout" hookset.
The above being the case, on single hook spinnerbaits, would you leave the barb, due to less force required to set a single hook vs. treble, plus would you like the reassurance that you have a barb on the one hook standing between you and the fish?
John |
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Posts: 32
Location: Sherry, WI | Barbless for a long time, like maybe 1995. Will never go back to barbs. The one or two per year that I may lose due to lacking barbs is more than offset by much easier and quicker releases. Have also released two dogs and one human easily due to barbless, these being potential trip-shortening and wallet-lightening incidents. |
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Posts: 1348
Location: Pewaukee, WI | My spinner baits are also barbless as are the trailer hooks. I have not lost a musky on these to date and that has been for several years now. |
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Posts: 323
Location: In the slop! | I smash all my barbs, spinnerbaits and all. I really feel you will catch every fish you deserve with barbless hooks. If you keep the line tight and hook the fish well, you will get it in the net. If it is just skin hooked, a barb on a hook won't help you at all. |
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Posts: 199
Location: Nebraska | One more thing to add to my list before I go next week.
#68: smash down all barbs. |
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Posts: 7037
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | About 6 years ago I fished a system where they had "muskie sanctuary" lakes, where the rules were: single hook, no barbs.
Though they werent muskies, I did lose 4 pike between 30"-34" in half a day. We left to go fish where we could be legal and use trebles and barbs.
I dont care enough, and I dont fish enough to go barbless. If I fished 150 days a year, I wouldnt care so much about putting myself in a situation where I might lose a few fish because of not having barbs on my hooks. As it is, I dont fish nearly as much as I'd like to, so when I'm out there (short of using dynamite), I'm not giving the fish any breaks. I've killed (that I know of) one fish, and barbed or not, that fish was going to die (shallowed the whole jackpot, and the net was not coated and far too small [long time ago]).
I've been fishing muskies for 14 years as far as I can tell, and I've been hooked into a hand once, and across a finger a different time. In both cases, having barbless hooks wouldnt have saved me any pain or blood, and might have actually made the injuries worse.
Just throwing out a few feelins against barbless hooks, these is of course coupled with the thought that barbless or not, fishing is bad for fishes. Not to sound PETA-ish, but driving a hook, barbless or otherwise, isnt like Vitamin C for muskies.
I buy a license everywhere I fish, meaning that I spend a couple hundred $$$ on licensing, therefore if I do hurt some fish, I've paid it back. That payment, in my mind, gives me the right to have barbs on my hooks. I've lost a whole bunch of fish better than my personal best, and I'm not about to make the odds even longer by smashing the barbs down. Me getting hurt while fishing? It'll probably happen more than likely the next time I fall in the lake. |
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Posts: 3864
| "Just throwing out a few feelins against barbless hooks, these is of course coupled with the thought that barbless or not, fishing is bad for fishes. Not to sound PETA-ish, but driving a hook, barbless or otherwise, isnt like Vitamin C for muskies."
Thanks for the chuckle. I'll keep my barbs, too, for now. |
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The great barbless debate