[Sandy Nelson]

I was having a discussion about Barbless hooks the other day.
I use nothing but barbless and reckon i catch and land more fish than i used too with barbed hooks.
However it was raised that this is not many peoples view

So i began to wonder why?

I looked at the hooks i use all the time and realised that all my hooks are curved in some way, often with an incurved point and are barbless from the manufacturer.I seriously dislike hooks with straight points so perhaps this is why i have no problems with barbless hooks.Its all down to the inturned point.
If you compare Partridge SLD or TMC 103bl's (which i love) with Partridge SUD's (which i loathe) then you can see what i'm getting at.
I have also been using Partridge SHR's recently which are really good too.Although de-barbed Kamasan 110's have never caused a problem.Again though the hooks are curved. Does anyone else have a view on this?

Sandy

[Derek 365]

Hi Sandy,
              I'm with you as far as using barbless or debarbed hooks i also use nothing else(local club water and fisheries C&R rules)and i usually catch more than my fair share of fish,but having not been fishing for long i can't really balance the barb/debarbed debate.I have heard it's down to the fact that a barbless point can penatrate deeper than a barbed point and that seems logical,but i've witnessed people losing fish and then curse THAT :  barbless hook.Although there's one thing i do that i've never seen anybody else do and that's after catching a couple of fish or trees/snags is to use a hook sharpener on the fly.

[Kev Danby]

Difficult one this my preference is barbless but I cant say I notice any difference between barbless and barbed hooks.

I find some days you seem to lose more fish than others using the same size hook and pattern so I can only summise that the way the fish takes has as much to do with landing/losing a fish as the hook does.

I know from my coarse fishing days and especially in matches, barbless hooks allow for faster unhooking of fish with no damage to the mouth, this also applies to trout which to me is a more important factor as it allows for better handling of the fish.

There is an argument for using barbed hooks for certain fish (carp, barbel) but unlike trout they do not have a bony hard mouth.

Also if you look at the catch reports from all the stocked fisheries anglers quite often catch 10+ fish and in accordance with fishery rules most of these must be caught on a barbless/de-barbed hook. Shouldnt they??

[Rob Brownfield]

I normally use crushed barbs rather than barbless straight from the manufacturers..the reason...I am sure the tiny hump thats left on a squashed barb helps prevent the hook from falling out, but still allows for super easy unhooking.

For BIG carp etc I use micro barbed hooks. As stated above, Carp have soft, fleshy mouths and barbless hooks can slip and tear in a prolonged, hard fight..that prblem does not seem to occur with barbed hooks..no idea why.

For Pike I use barbless flies and barbless dead bait rigs....but again, crushed barbs. My Wychwood barbless trebles have lost me a heap of fish in the last few weeks...switched to a very similar Owner hook, crushed barbs...no problems.


Oh..got to agree that the shape of the hook/point is very important...and I like inpoint circle hooks for my Pike flies now

[Derek 365]

Hi All,
        Just tried a little experiment ,i tied some lengths of leader material to a selection of curved shank hooks and added a little pressure to simulate line tension and found that the points of ALL the curved hooks pointed inwards just like the profile of a 'circle hook'.I think that once a fish is hooked it seems impossible to throw the hook due to the angle of the hooks point,as long as you keep the line tight.
The most inward pointing hooks under tension was the 'sedge type' curved shank with the slightly upturned eye.I just wander if this type of hook would cause a decrease in hook-ups due to the inward facing point while retrieving,you could always offset the point to the side like some people do with very small hooks.

[Sandy Nelson]

I just wander if this type of hook would cause a decrease in hook-ups due to the inward facing point while retrieving

Never thought of that, most of my fishing is done very slowly, so i've never noticed that phenomenon. But i guess it might be a possibility.

Watch the experiments though, or you'll end up another anorak
 :

Sandy

[the water buoys]

hi sandy

                 i use the kamasan b110 debarbed ialso use b175 heavey traditionals.I loss more fish with b175 than ido with b110 , also when coming to release the fish b110 nearly always with me, has a better hook grip. When i release with the b175 traditionals they seem to fall out when i net a fish the amount of times the hook is already out of the fish.  but

not a lot with the  b110 or grubber has any one else found the same.           Henry from thewaterbouys :

[stickleback]

I only use barbless.  I can't say I've noticed an increase or decrease in my catch rate as it's always been pretty low  :

The reason I use them is it makes it easier for catch and release, if I chose to do so.  

If it makes it a wee bit easier for a fish to occasionally spit the hook, well that's life, as I'll still have enjoyed my time on the water.    

[Sandy Nelson]

I took this to extremes on Tuesday.

While target casting with a small piece of red wool, i managed to get positive takes from no less then 13 fish, just enough to feel the shake of the head before they let go.Bloody great fun , no unhooking , no hassle to the fish. I even managed to get snapped once. :
They can be right agressive little devils.

Sandy

[spiros]

As i dont tie my own flies yet (have tried but they look pretty poor)i debarb all my hooks as i buy them and stick them in my box.I dont catch as much fish as some (nothing to do with the hook barbed or otherwise lol) but at least i know that when the fish go back they have less damage than yarking out a barbed hook.