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Posts: 427
Location: Planet Meltdown | I'm curious how popular barbless hooks are in the Muskie world. Who uses barbless hooks and does your tactics change when fighting a fish? Obviously your chances of getting a fish in the net go down but by how much? After fubarring a few fishes jaws last season with Mustad and VMC hooks, I'm starting to wonder if more of us should be using barbless hooks. |
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Posts: 906
Location: Canada | The only baits I have that have pinched barbs are a few of my gliders I use up at the cottage for pike. Did this after I had to keep one early last summer, it was hooked everywhere and rolled in my net. By the time I got the paddle boat back to shore and tried to get the glider untangled from the net then unhook the pike it was too late. After that I don't think my hook up ratio was affected but maybe a couple fish that came unglued was my fault not keeping enough tension on the fish, I loosened my drag off a little too much.
Edited by CU301DSV 1/17/2014 6:33 AM
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Posts: 2389
Location: Chisholm, MN | I've never knowingly hurt a fish using barbs. I think the issue is more with a fish getting tangled in the net. Sometimes they can be hard to unwrap with all those hooks and barbs. My solution is to have hook cutters and a "tangle free" net bag. |
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Posts: 149
| I removed all my barbs a few years ago. I have a Stowmaster net and every fish got wadded up in the bag so I removed all my barbs. When I replaced the bag on the net, I stopped removing the barbs from new baits and replaced hooks. I don't see any difference in my landing percentage between barbed and barbless.
I really like handling fish with barbless hooks especially if they are small and I release them without netting. Also very nice in the winter when freezing hands and thick clothing end up with a bait in them. |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | I have a couple of barbless lures that I use when fishing alone after dark...IT'S NOT FOR THE FISH. 20 or more years ago I was sent a video of a TV shoot by one of the Quebec boys can't remember if it was Mike Lazarus or Mark Thorp of a 50 inch fish thrashing with the front treble of a 10 inch Believer in the fishes mouth and the rear hook in the calf of his leg. I don't understand French but I recognised a lot of the words he was using.
I went totally barbless for a period but got away from it but if an hook has a excessive barb I will pinch it down a bit but not totally barbless.
I'm going to have to dig up that old tape and watch it again tho I'm not even sure I still have a way to play VHS |
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Posts: 427
Location: Planet Meltdown | Wow that sounds really painful!!! |
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Posts: 1530
| pushing a hook thru a digit well painfull.
losing a 50 plus fish-heartbreaking..
up to the angler |
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Posts: 440
| I have been smashing down barbs for 10 years and have saw no reason not to. Last year I hooked up 10-12 fish, lost one. It was on a new lure that I forgot to smash down the barbs. I will maintain that at some point in a muskiefisherman's career you will pull hooks out of a hand or something. Barbs make that job more difficult. |
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Posts: 98
Location: Franklin, WI | I went on a trophy pike fishing trip on Alaska's Innoko River last year where only single, barbless hooks are allowed on a lure. I was a bit skeptical, but after landing my PB (50 1/2" - Picture attached) and numerous 40"+ fish I became a believer. The guides don't net the fish there, but hand land them, and the barbless hooks make everyone safer when unhooking, and releasing the fish. A few weeks later I caught my PB (47") muskie in Wisconsin using a home made bucktail with a single barbless hook. The single hook is also better for fishing in heavy weeds. That's a 3" Johnson Silver Minnow with a twister, that I used to catch most of my pike.
Edited by Muskie_Mike II 1/17/2014 9:43 AM
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| I pinch them down, fish alone quite a bit and it is safer I believe. I don't think my landing percentage has changed, but I do know I get to fish prime feeding windows more efficiently as I don't need to spend time cutting hooks and untangling things in the net. Just take the hooks out and get back to casting. BR
Edited by BenR 1/17/2014 9:56 AM
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Posts: 2389
Location: Chisholm, MN | I cringe at the thought of getting stuck with a 7/0 and do consider pinching down barbs. Probably gonna have to learn the hard way to actually do it though. The way I see it, I take extreme caution unhooking a fish, and hope it doesn't happen. But lie you said, its bound to. |
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Location: Eastern Ontario | Beauty Pike |
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Posts: 427
Location: Planet Meltdown | Congrats on that beast of the Pike Muskie_Mike. Some really points posted so far and it gives me something to think about. I too fish alone a lot and barbless hooks sound like a good way to make those solo releases a lot more safe. I'm going to start using Gamakatsu Magic Eye hooks on my trolling baits as the barbs are smaller. I like the idea of using barbless hooks on casting baits though as you have complete control from the moment that fish hits. Good stuff guys keep it coming.
Edited by brianT 1/17/2014 12:17 PM
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Posts: 121
Location: Forest Lake, MN & Bemidji, MN | This somehwat fits into the discussion about fishing barbless hooks for safety purposes and who it helps protect. Figured I would share a simpe trick I learned the hard way after getting cut on the hand with a swinging rear hook of a pounder. Mid 40's fish t-boned the bait so the fish only had the front treble in it's mouth with a hook in the top and bottom jaw so it was pinned shut. The entire body and tail of the pounder were swinging freely when the fish thrashed and it had the line tie and leader in its mouth as well, so it was really hard to isolate the rear treble and work on cutting the front treble hooks free to unpin the fish. The fish got really peeed everytime I would grab the line to try and bring it's head up to get at the bait. Eventually, after getting cut once by the rear hook, I grabbed the rear free swinging treble with my pliers and cut the split ring with my knipex. If I wasn't stupid I would have done that in the first place  If you ever have a fish eat a bait head first and leave the rear treble swinging free, I strongly recommend sacrificing your split ring so you only have to worry about the front treble. |
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Posts: 2389
Location: Chisholm, MN | jfreborg - 1/17/2014 2:03 PM
This somehwat fits into the discussion about fishing barbless hooks for safety purposes and who it helps protect. Figured I would share a simpe trick I learned the hard way after getting cut on the hand with a swinging rear hook of a pounder. Mid 40's fish t-boned the bait so the fish only had the front treble in it's mouth with a hook in the top and bottom jaw so it was pinned shut. The entire body and tail of the pounder were swinging freely when the fish thrashed and it had the line tie and leader in its mouth as well, so it was really hard to isolate the rear treble and work on cutting the front treble hooks free to unpin the fish. The fish got really peeed everytime I would grab the line to try and bring it's head up to get at the bait. Eventually, after getting cut once by the rear hook, I grabbed the rear free swinging treble with my pliers and cut the split ring with my knipex. If I wasn't stupid I would have done that in the first place If you ever have a fish eat a bait head first and leave the rear treble swinging free, I strongly recommend sacrificing your split ring so you only have to worry about the front treble.
I'd say that some good advice. |
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Posts: 1000
| I pinched all my trebles down this fall after a muskie had her way with me after driving a jr cowgirl thru the meaty part of my hand behind the thumb and index finger. It took a few weeks to regain feeling through my index finger, but I consider myself lucky.
Single hooks get better hooking percentages for a couple reasons:
1. the power of the hookset goes to 1 point instead of being spread across 2 or 3
2. you don't have multiple points leveraging against each other
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Posts: 358
| There are too many pros concerning barbless hooks vs cons. I think I will go barbless. Good topic and information here as usual. |
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Posts: 427
Location: Planet Meltdown | Muskie_Mike II - 1/17/2014 10:38 AM
I went on a trophy pike fishing trip on Alaska's Innoko River last year where only single, barbless hooks are allowed on a lure. I was a bit skeptical, but after landing my PB (50 1/2" - Picture attached) and numerous 40"+ fish I became a believer. The guides don't net the fish there, but hand land them, and the barbless hooks make everyone safer when unhooking, and releasing the fish. A few weeks later I caught my PB (47") muskie in Wisconsin using a home made bucktail with a single barbless hook. The single hook is also better for fishing in heavy weeds. That's a 3" Johnson Silver Minnow with a twister, that I used to catch most of my pike.
I'm curious Muskie_Mike, do those guides up there turn the pike upside down (tonic immobility) when handling them boat side without a net? |
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Posts: 379
Location: Thief River Falls MN | Hooks are cheap, start cuttin before yankin'... As far as barbs go, IMO if you cut them off when stuck to the fish, the hook comes out real easy- barbed or not.
Hand landing large fish with hooks in there yappers, not very smart, even if you've done it hundreds of times. Eventually someones gonna get stuck. Takin pics holding a fish with lure in mouth, take a guess what eventually will happen... Nice pike though!
Edited by toddb 1/18/2014 12:26 AM
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Posts: 906
Location: Canada | I agree hooks are cheap, when musky fishing we cut a lot of hooks. Two pairs of knipex and plenty of hooks in the boat at all times. My point with pinching barbs on the gliders I fish with for pike at the cottage is that I catch so many and the mesh on my small Frabill is a lot easier to work with. |
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Posts: 98
Location: Franklin, WI | No, they grab them by the tail, and pet their belly to calm them, and then lift them for a picture. The 50 1/2" fish in the picture escaped three times before we were able to get a picture. You have to fight them back to the boat and start all over again.
They only photograph fish in the mid 40's and up. The rest are quickly released. I'm used to netting muskies, and I was surprised how efficient the guides were in hand landing the fish. With the single (no trebles), barbless hooks most releases were quite easy. They are very protective of the Alaska fishery, and don't fish the same area more than once in two weeks. |
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Posts: 98
Location: Franklin, WI | Not dangerous at all. Remember all lures had single (no trebles), barbless hooks. I think it is more dangerous unhooking a large fish in the net with lures with three treble hooks..........9 points with barbs! The reason that they take the pictures with the lure in the fish is in case the fish escapes their hold you can reel it back in and try again. I'd hate to catch a trophy fish and not get a photo of it.
Edited by Muskie_Mike II 1/18/2014 10:14 AM
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Posts: 176
Location: ON | jfreborg - 1/17/2014 3:03 PM
If you ever have a fish eat a bait head first and leave the rear treble swinging free, I strongly recommend sacrificing your split ring so you only have to worry about the front treble.
Every fish I catch on a crank bait is always on the front or middle hook. That third hook is usually the bastard that tangles in the mesh and makes the whole process a mess.
I'd take it off altogether like a lot of people do for jerks, but there is that chance on the big fish that it may be your only last hook hanging on the corner of their mouth, after they have managed to escape the other 2. And we all know the big fellas are great at head shaking hooks free. |
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Posts: 230
Location: St Paul, Minnesota | I've contemplated barbless hooks but I haven't acted on it because of the peace of mind that I get from the barbs. I have had the unique pleasure of a trip to Hayward Area Memorial Hospital for surgical hook removal but that's an accepted risk. For me the main thing is that my Knipex Hook Cutter is always easily accessible and I never hesitate to cut hooks in order to get a musky back in the water quicker. To each his own, I might play around with barbless hooks this season, but ultimately if you catch a musky you need to make sure you are prepared with the necessary measures to release that fish as quickly as possible. |
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Posts: 176
Location: ON | Delete, stupid iPad
Edited by Cal 1/18/2014 1:30 PM
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Posts: 439
Location: Lake of the Woods, Morson, Ontario | I have pinched all bards on my casting baits and barely cut a hook this summer. I make more trips around the boat as I don't like to pull or yank a fish to turn them now compared to when I may have saw them hooked real well in the past.
I did a few trolling baits as well and caught 4-5 fish on the barbless cranks this fall. Again, no need to cut hooks when the barbs don't get in the way.
Safer for the fish and the angler. Seems like a no-brainer to me. |
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Posts: 92
| Two trips to the ER in the last 10 years, one from a 49 incher, cowgirl in the forearm. The other from a 35 incher, twitch bait through the index finger ...........obviously the 35 hurt more!
I've thought from time to time about trying barbless. |
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Posts: 1150
Location: Minnesota. | I'm 63. Been fishing a long time. Fished barbed (typical/normal ??) until I started trouting 15 yrs back and went barbless then and it spread to everything about 2 yrs later.
Can't say I've noticed ANY diff. in lost fish from trout to bass/pike/muskies etc. etc. And that's with reg. tackle as well as fly tackle, even for "teeth"! |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | LOL - 65- multi-species fisherman, and have been fishing barbless since my first Muskie fly-in in mid-1990's. No trips to the ER, barbless hooks still hurt. I pinch my barbs down, its also easier to release the fish. However, I have cut hooks to get them unrolled in the bag. Always have first-aid kit, tools and know how to remove barbed hooks should need arise.
Be safe!
Al |
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Posts: 1168
| This hook had barbs.
Interesting situation. Partner had caught a bunch of fish prior to this but was always in someone else's boat so he didn't have much experience unhooking them. I go into my routine and he asks if he could take care of it....no problem. Just leans over the gunnel, hands not even peeling the net apart, and the fish thrashed and got him.
Fish is trying to roll in the net with his hand attached to it. It was an undersized fish but if that fish had to die in order to stop messing up my buddy's hand it was going to get whacked. I got the hook cutter and cut him free, insisted he sit down with a bottle of whiskey and I'll get the fish untangled. He could've done it himself under normal circumstances but there was no way I'd let him with that much adrenaline going. Wasn't going to take a pic of him with the fish but he insisted. Ok... At this point he had 6 or 7 awfully good pulls off of the bottle and had yanked the hook out himself with a vice grips. You can see in the pic that it went in by the knuckle on his ring finger and came out by his knuckle on his middle finger. Thought for sure we'd be heading to the ER.
It swelled up by the next morning but he was a trooper and didn't want to cut the weekend short. For the next 24-36 hours he kept himself fairly "lubricated" and within a few days outside of scabbing from the hooks and a bruise he was fine.
You can make an argument either way on this one. Even barbless that hook would've stung him pretty good, but since it came all the way through he just yanked it out the way it was going.
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