Bending the Barb 2024

Hoover reply :

When flyfishing for trout, I would bend or flatten the barb end of the hook, making catch and release easier on the fish. What are your thoughts about bending/flattening the barbs on hooks when bass fishing? Do you think there are advantages or are you significantly increasing the risk of losing a big fish? In practice, what do you all do? Thanks. Tom

Handy reply :

Actually I have just started doing this on my treble hook baits. The last few bass I got really swallowed the trebles and made it very hard to "nicely" get the hooks out. I ended up releasing bass with very bloody mouths. If the bass gets away because of the squashed barbs then no biggie as I fish only for fun.

Paul

scott k reply :

I bend all the barbs down on the hooks/lures that I fish with 90% of the time. Some of those barbs are so big I really have a hard time getting the fish off if I dont squeeze them down, like on 4/0 EWG hooks. 100% of those get squeezed down. By the way, I dont do any tournament or competitive fishing but I dont have any problems with fish getting off, just keep the line tight!

atrocity reply :

yea i started fishing barbless too, i havnt lost a fish yet. i think its soo much easier un-hooking fish. i also think its more fun trying to keep more pressure on the fish

adclem reply :

Thanks for the info. I am going to start doing this as well. Sometimes it is a pain to get the barb out.

Thanks,

Paul Roberts reply :

I went barbless for my plastics last year, and this year started experimenting with barbless hardbaits -so far so good! I got tired of contributing to the mutilated mouth syndrome.

I'm a long-time FF too, so it wasn't a stretch.

PondHunter reply :

I started smashing the barbs on my hooks for use in my pond because I had one good sized fish so deeply hooked, I thought it was going to bleed to death before I could get the hook out. The next year I started using a flyrod and was amazed at how well that long rod played and landed fish with barbless hooks, that most of my rods now have a lighter power rating so that I can keep a bend in it and land more fish.

The only fish I have lost on barbless hooks were my fault.

Tokyo Tony reply :

This was the first thread I ever started on the site:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1189202496/0

I would not bend the barb on treble-hooked lures if I were you. You will lose more fish. But for single hooks, as long as you keep the pressure and fight the fish well, I believe it makes no difference in the number of fish landed. 8-)

roadwarrior reply :

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The only fish I have lost on barbless hooks were my fault.

Huh?

Be careful, bending the barb can destroy the point.

I see no reason to do this. Buy some needle nose

pliers, learn the technique for extracting deep hooks

and you will not have issues.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/articles/if2806_HookRemoval/

8-)

TheBeast reply :

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Be careful, bending the barb can destroy the point.

How??

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Buy some needle nose
pliers, learn the technique for extracting deep hooks

With those same needle nose you shouldn't be anywhere close enough to the point to bother it any.

http://www.finefishing.com/1freshfish/aahowto/lines,knots,etc/barbless.htm

rfrazier reply :

Going to test bending down my EWGs for a little

roadwarrior reply :

Quote

Quote
Be careful, bending the barb can destroy the point.

How??

Quote
Buy some needle nose
pliers, learn the technique for extracting deep hooks

With those same needle nose you shouldn't be anywhere close enough to the point to bother it any.

http://www.finefishing.com/1freshfish/aahowto/lines,knots,etc/barbless.htm

#1 Modern, high quality hooks are chemically sharpenend. Bending the barb has the potential of destroying the physical integrity of the hook point.

#2 Fine...In 1984...

Just another guy's opinion which I don't agree with.

8-)

Paul Roberts reply :

RW, I have to disagree on a couple of your points (no pun intended).

It's easy to flatten a barb without damaging the point. And one can easily test the points on your thumbnail before fishing. Plus, a barbless point is easier to set.

As for the IF article: I can't see how you could do that with a hard bait.

Further, one of the things that research into the hooking mortality has shown is that esophagus hooked fish, even with the hook removed, even without a lot of apparent damage, have a high mortality rate, due to infection.

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Turns out that 98% of the bass (all but one) hooked in the mouth survived the simulation, whereas only 2/3 (66%) of the esophagus hooked LMB did the same. All control fish survived.

http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2008/04/where-you-hooke.html

As for losing fish: So far, with single hooked plastics I just haven't noticed a difference. With heavy lures I think it is more possible to lose a fish, especially if they jump, or head thrash. I don't mash barbs on jigs because they just don't swallow them like they do with plastics. With my jigs, and spinnerbaits, I like micro-barbed hooks, or, if the barb is too large I flatten it down almost all the way.

Crankbaits are a potentially different story, as far as losing fish, say in a jump. Trouble is those trebles can really tear up a bass' mouth. I hate that. I hate seeing it and contributing to it.

I don't make my living tournament fishing, so, for myself, I'd rather lose a few fish than contribute to the mutilated mouth syndrome -and treble hooks are the worst in this department.

But, since going barbless this year, my crankbaits have been holding just fine. I've been surprised actually. And it's so nice how they slip out. No pliers, no extra handling, fewer worries about myself getting stuck.

I'm not sure about lipless cranks ('Traps) though. IF had an article last year that claimed that losses with these baits is due to thin wire "springy" hooks. They suggested using 4X wire. Interesting thought, but I haven't tried it.

Muddy reply :

I got some reversed barb worm hooks from Brent of ***. All you have to do is grab the shank and shake em off,I wonder why these hooks are not popular?

Wayne P. reply :

Most of the time when I mash the barb, it breaks off and if it doesn't, I rotate the needle nose pliers a little and it falls off. I don't want that little piece of metal in my finger if it should come loose when unhooking a fish.

J Francho reply :

Barbless trout fishing is so successful because you are already using gear that is meant to absorb most of the stress a hooked fish imparts on the line and terminal tackle. That absorptive quality comes with a compromise to sensitivity. If you are going to go barbless with bass, then you need to reassess your current gear, and probably move down a notch in taper speed on most of your rigs. I personally cannot imagine going barbless on a 3/4 grass jig on 65# braid and a 7-6 XH/X-Fast stick. The barb on that bait does hold the hook in the fish, not the other way around.

Doug Hannon has written and spoken about this at length, and I'm pretty sure that he is speaking of lighter baits and more specifically crankbaits. In those situations, I can see barbless fishing working well, since I use a moderate taper casting stick for cranks, which absorbs most of the bass's movement.

I'm not going to start bending the barbs down on any of my hooks though.

TheBeast reply :

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#1 Modern, high quality hooks are chemically sharpenend. Bending the barb has the potential of destroying the physical integrity of the hook point.

I don't see how the hook is sharpened has anything to do with it. Bending the barb slightly doesn't cause any heat build up or anything else that would do the damage you speak of. All you are doing is pinching the barb down to flatten it. Unless you are just tarded and grab it like you are trying to take the lugnuts off your truck with the pliers, there is no way you will effect the physicall integrity of the hook.

And chemical sharpening isn't necisarilly that great either.

"The chemical smoothes or "eats away" the metal and, in effect, refines the point. This is quite a critical operation because if the chemical sharpening goes on too long it will eventually dull the point and may weaken the barb. Furthermore, if the chemical attacks one side of the point more than the other then the point will be weakened. Finally, it is important to remember that chemical sharpening will not make a weaker point into a strong one. It is more likely to make a suspect point even weaker!"

Paul Roberts reply :

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Barbless trout fishing is so successful because you are already using gear that is meant to absorb most of the stress a hooked fish imparts on the line and terminal tackle. That absorptive quality comes with a compromise to sensitivity. If you are going to go barbless with bass, then you need to reassess your current gear, and probably move down a notch in taper speed on most of your rigs. I personally cannot imagine going barbless on a 3/4 grass jig on 65# braid and a 7-6 XH/X-Fast stick. The barb on that bait does hold the hook in the fish, not the other way around.
Doug Hannon has written and spoken about this at length, and I'm pretty sure that he is speaking of lighter baits and more specifically crankbaits. In those situations, I can see barbless fishing working well, since I use a moderate taper casting stick for cranks, which absorbs most of the bass's movement.

I'm not going to start bending the barbs down on any of my hooks though.

JF, that's a good point. FF is different, but less in the way you suggest. Why it works so well in FF is because the hooks are small, and the mass exists in the line -not at the lure. You can literally drop the rod tip and let a hooked fish swim around -the hook staying in part because that thick fly-line being dragged around behind keeps enough tension.

Also, the sensitivity issue you mention is "hindered" by the very thick line, not the comparatively soft rod. FF is just different. You get feel by keeping a short line (FF is, mostly, a relatively short range game) or holding the line in your fingers. The rod is generally matched to tippet strength, and hook size, too -much like conventional tackle.

Going barbless with conventional tackle certainly doesn't require a rod so "soft" that it sacrifices sensitivity.

But I see your point: With conventional tackle, YOU must keep the hook in with even pressure. It's slack line coupled with a massive lure that allows the fish to throw a bait. Barbs help here, but keeping proper tension is MUCH more important. And that's your point, it may be harder to keep even pressure with a very stiff rod and low stretch line. A very heavy jig on flipping tackle might be easier for fish to throw, especially if the fish gets around some vegetation that might introduce a little slack.

Interestingly, I think the way one needs to fight bass with mega-swimbaits is a good example. Any slack can result in that lure torquing out of the fish's mouth. So, we crank like crazy and get 'em in as smoothly and quickly as we can. Anyone dare go barbless with a big heavy swimbait? With such a massive bait, and a PB on the line, I think this would be foolish. (But I wouldn't be at all surprised if some mega-lure configurations would keep fish pinned, barbless).

In most situations, I don't think going barbless would require a change in tackle. I think most anglers already keep adequate tension on fish with the tackle they have to keep a hook in. Barbs don't make that much of a difference, at least with plastics. And as I said, I'm doing (surprisingly) well with crankbaits, although I need to give it more time and more fish.

Beyond leaping fish and surface head thrashes (things we can act to avoid, if we choose), and wrapping up in cover, most fish are lost from too much tension -often at hand or boatside (the short line issue), tear-outs (common with smaller gapped trebles), and break-offs. These are all things we can learn to avoid. Barbs have little to do with them.

KevinH reply :

I mostly fish for peacock bass in South Florida, and will almost always flatten barbs. The way these guys crash baits, if you have mean barbs, you are going to have some troubles getting then unhooked..... and I have had more than one of those guys throw the hook back into ME when I am trying to get them off the lure!

Yes, I do occasionally lose one who throws the hook during the fight (but that is going to happen anyway with these critters..... they are crazy strong for their size).

Kevin

J Francho reply :

Who said anything about fly fishing? Blech! ;D I use an 9'6" spinning rod, 11' center pin, and 8'6" casting rig for trout and salmon. When I'm swinging spoons, I sometimes use a 3/4 oz. bait with a #2 to 1/0 hook. Its the rod. About the heaviest line I use is 17# for pre run Chinook. Otherwise its 4-8# mono or equivalent diameter braid.

Anyway, I have some vintage, handmade live bait hooks. The barb is COMPLETELY different than what is seen today on most modern hooks. I'll try to get a picture, but suffice it to say that the barbs were a lot bigger.

Paul Roberts reply :

I see. I did a lot of drift fishing in the Great Lakes and LOVED it!

In that kind of fishing, such a long rod does help in keeping proper tension, and absorb the actions of large VERY fast and often reckless fish (esp with light line), as well as keep line of moving water (maybe the biggest reason for such a rod).

But...these just aren't relevant issues in bass fishing. And I don't see where barbs have anything to do with it.

Standard bass tackle will work fine with barbless hooks, excepting, as you mention, certain flipping situations, and huge swimbaits. I also wonder about heavy compact lures like jigging spoons, bladebaits, and lipless cranks.

J Francho reply :

It is fun Paul! No one but you, you're freezing hands, and the fish - I love winter steelheading

You make some great points, especially with regard to fly line that I hadn't considered. I wonder also if the barb doesn't help keep the bait in position on the hook when using weedless plastics. I'm still not going barbless, though.

Anyway, good chatting here with you. I'll try to take some macros of the old bait hooks and compare them to modern tackle. At the very least, they might be cool to see up close.

Paul Roberts reply :

Thanks JF. Yes, interesting topic.

Steelhead might be the one fish that could cost me my job and family. My wife still doesn't let me forget the year she came (from China) to see me (before we were married), and the steelhead were swarming. I never did find time to see her. I'm glad we now live a 1000 miles from them. ;D

Will be neat to see those old hooks, and hear about where they are from.

Hey! You're in Rochester -my old stomping grounds: Oak Orchard to Pulaski and everything in between.

kickbasskid reply :

I bent the hook on one of my laser eyes and lost every fish. Switched to a barbed hook and have landed every fish since.

fathom reply :

seem to be doing a lot less surgery on the water since going barbless several years ago.

imo, barbs were designed to keep bait on a hook, not fish.

TheBeast reply :

Decided to do my own little experiment this weekend. I bent the barb on every lure I fished this weekend and didn't loose a single fish (8 in all in about 2 hours at the pond) and had a much easier time getting hooks out. I caught them from 6" to 3 lbs. and never any problem at all.

And I also didn't see any adverse effects with my highend chemically sharpened hooks. The hookpoint didn't instantly become disfigured and useless.

I actually believe my hooksets were easier and I got a better hookup ratio without the barb hindering the hook going in.

Paul Roberts reply :

Beast,

Curious -What lure types did you use?

Team9nine reply :

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Decided to do my own little experiment this weekend. I bent the barb on every lure I fished this weekend and didn't loose a single fish (8 in all in about 2 hours at the pond) and had a much easier time getting hooks out. I caught them from 6" to 3 lbs. and never any problem at all.
And I also didn't see any adverse effects with my highend chemically sharpened hooks. The hookpoint didn't instantly become disfigured and useless.

I actually believe my hooksets were easier and I got a better hookup ratio without the barb hindering the hook going in.

BINGO - I've done the same experiment. When I did my experiment though, I kept it up for several weeks to get enough instances of repetition and enough fish hooked to make a call. Any outcome (good or bad) could happen on just a single trip or weekend. After over 3 weeks and 150+ bass landed, I couldn't point to any instance where I thought the barbless hooks hurt me. I smashed down trebles on all sorts of cranks, and single hooks on baits like Chatterbaits, jigs, jigheads and plastic worms.

I haven't kept up with smashing down barbs lately, but I certainly wouldn't hesitate or worry about doing it in the future. Most lures with trebles I change out to new micro-barb hooks anyway. I think this is one of those areas where psychology takes over, and change is incredibly difficult for many.

-T9

TheBeast reply :

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Beast,
Curious -What lure types did you use?

Ragetail shad using Gamakatsu 4/0 skipgap hooks

Rage craw and Netbait Paca Craw using 2/0 skipgap

Strike King Rocket Shad 1/8 oz. spinner

Spro Bronzeye frog

Paul Roberts reply :

Beast,

Neat experiment -along the lines of what I've been doing. Thanks.

T9,

Glad you piped in. I knew you were testing the barbless route, but didn't know how it fared, or how many fish you had into it. Thank you! Very interesting.

Muddy reply :

I have been doing this for years, t riggin worms. Now when I go to wacky rigs and Trick sticks: in the deep summer. Many do, doesnt hurt the hooks and I don't have to spend 20 minutes stressing fish out from getting hooked up and damaging their gills. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING! You don't need scientific method to figure all this out With single hook lures, you will loose fish that are other wise catchable, but if you are C and R anyhow, whats the big deal.

If you are worried about what this does to bass lips, this probablly isn't the sport for you.

NEKvt reply :

I mostly fly fish for bass and trout an mash all my barbs. I do it for no other reason than that it makes it easier to remove hooks from fish. Situations like nymph fishing for trout, or carolina rigging worms where the hooks can wind up very deep are the reasons I started fishing barbless, it is just so much easier to get the hook out of these fish. For small dry flies, or crankbaits that wind up in the lip barbs don't seem to be so much of an issue in that you can usually get pliers around the bend and the hook out easy.

The nice thing about pinching barbs is that the fish doesn't need to leave the water, if you are not fishing a tourney, or it is not a fish you need a picture of you can just grab the bend of the hook, turn it over and the fish falls off without leaving the water.

T-rig reply :

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I would not bend the barb on treble-hooked lures if I were you. You will lose more fish. But for single hooks, as long as you keep the pressure and fight the fish well, I believe it makes no difference in the number of fish landed. 8-)

x2. With softbaits barbless hooks work well but if you're using swimbait or wakebaits you will loose alot of fish, especially if they jump. I loose about 30% of my fish on swim/wakebaits with regular trebles, I can't imagine how many I would loose without barbs. I don't keep the bass I catch, so many would say it doesn't matter if you loose a fish, but one of those fish could be my new PB....

dman reply :

How is this done anyway? Just squeezing the barb down with a needle nose?

iceintheveins reply :

I don't bend barbs on any hooks, even for trout fishing. Studies show barbless hooks don't have a lower mortality rate than barbed hooks, and barbless hooks just make it easier for fish to get away.

NEKvt reply :

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I don't bend barbs on any hooks, even for trout fishing. Studies show barbless hooks don't have a lower mortality rate than barbed hooks, and barbless hooks just make it easier for fish to get away.

Could you point us to some of those references? I would be interested in reading them.

dman just stick some pliers in perpendicular to the hook and squeeze, barb goes flat.

J Francho reply :

In~Fisherman recently (in the past year) reported a study conducted on hook mortality in trout. Not sure what issue.

Team9nine reply :

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Could you point us to some of those references? I would be interested in reading them.

This page covers the topic and highlights over half a dozen studies.

http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2007/10/the-debate-is-a.html

It's true, no advantage from a mortality standpoint. But barbless does appear to do much less tissue damage to the fish and is a lot easier and quicker to remove. Largely a personal preference thing at this point.

-T9

J Francho reply :

Thanks for that link.

NEKvt reply :

I am surprised to see that data I would have thought mortality, regardless of hook type, would be higher than it was. That high survival rate brings up a simple confound, how are you going to see a significant difference if that high a percentage are surviving? We don't see methods in these papers and in most cases can't tell where fish were hooked.

This paper shows similar mortality rates to the above papers in fish hooked in the mouth but significantly higher rates in esophagus hooked fish. They only used barbed hooks (2/0 worm) it would be interesting to see if that gut hook mortality came down with barbless hooks.

http://www.biol.ttu.edu/faculty/gwilde/Shared%20Documents/LargemouthBassModel.pdf

Here are a couple other interesting full texts for those that like to read this sort of stuff.

Tennessee tournament study

http://www2.tntech.edu/fish/PDF/Blackbass.pdf

I tried to find some papers on air exposure related mortality but could not. If anyone has any links to something like that I would be interested to read it.

This one has brief air exposure but is mostly about cardivascular response to exhaustion. Seems bass bounce back better than I do

http://www.carleton.ca/fecpl/pdfs/LMB_TAFS_CO_MS.pdf

Note: I do not pinch all my barbs, just like a discussion that has a bit of science involved. Wish I was in school still so I could access the full texts easily.

Team9nine reply :

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I am surprised to see that data I would have thought mortality, regardless of hook type, would be higher than it was. That high survival rate brings up a simple confound, how are you going to see a significant difference if that high a percentage are surviving? We don't see methods in these papers and in most cases can't tell where fish were hooked.

I've got full access to all the papers listed in their entirety, but that would be a ton of reading and typing on my part to summarize them all in detail

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This paper shows similar mortality rates to the above papers in fish hooked in the mouth but significantly higher rates in esophagus hooked fish. They only used barbed hooks (2/0 worm) it would be interesting to see if that gut hook mortality came down with barbless hooks.

Probably wouldn't make much difference. When fish die from being hooked in the esophagal region it is usually because the point punctured a vital organ inside the body cavity that lies along the esophagus, not because the esophagus itself was damaged. Barbs might do more damage, but a puncture to the heart or liver is probably going to be fatal regardless.

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I tried to find some papers on air exposure related mortality but could not. If anyone has any links to something like that I would be interested to read it.

Shockingly, in cooler water (<75 deg.) mortality is basically zero for the times stated (up to 15 minutes exposure). Probably much higher in warmer water but that wasn't tested in either paper linked below.

Here you go:

http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2008/08/re-examining-holding-your-breath-guidelines.html

-T9

NEKvt reply :

Didn't think to look around that blog, thanks for the link again. That is really amazing. I have never thought of bass as being all that fragile, but fifteen minutes out of the water and no mortality astounds me. Been trout fishing for too long, don't give the bass enough credit.

Agreed on the esophagus thing as well. After I thought about it more I figured having a fish on the end of the line yanking against a link to its vitals probably would injure it terribly regardless.

These have to be great research projects to do, I need to get back in school for fisheries.

iceintheveins reply :

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In~Fisherman recently (in the past year) reported a study conducted on hook mortality in trout. Not sure what issue.

That study showed that bait mortality in trout was much less than previously thought. This study put it at 25% when fished passively (deadsticking).

Another study from the University of Wisconsin put bait fishing for trout with an active method (drifting, jigging) at less than 5%.

I'm sure that in bass it's even lower than in trout, because trout can't be taken out of the water very long.

Paul Roberts reply :

These studies have helped alleviate some of the mortality issues for me too.

However, in terms of amount of handling, and tissue damage with barbed vs barbless hooks -there's an enormous difference. In my hardest fished waters, bass with (sometimes greatly) mutilated mouths are common, especially where treble hooks are used.

Maybe returning bass with mutilated mouths doesn't bother some, or most, but for me it's akin to throwing beer cans overboard into a beloved fishery.

Yesterday I took a few fish on a crankbait, and was again amazed and pleased at how easy they were to release. But on one of those fish I hadn't mashed down the (large) barbs on that particular plug. The bass had a mouthful of barbs and it took some time to extract, with some mutilation. I even severed the tendon along the lower jaw back at the corner -(this is not uncommon). I hate that. Yeah, I can pitch 'em back, shrug my shoulders, and say "It'll live". But I still get the feeling I just pitched a beer can into the water.

To each his own I guess. Barbless catches fish, and offers a world of difference in terms of atraumatic release. Micro-barbs are a good compromise -they are easier to extract. But nothing is as easy as barbless.

Muddy reply :

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These studies have helped alleviate some of the mortality issues for me too.
.

Maybe returning bass with mutilated mouths doesn't bother some, or most, but for me it's akin to throwing beer cans overboard into a beloved fishery.

THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LITTERING AND PUTTING A FISH BACK THAT YOU HOOKED>>> ON PURPOSE MIND YOU. There are many here that have fished with me so I give you fellas 2 clues. I usually just reach down , using my pliers I shake the fish right off. Most of my fish I do not even hold.

#2 Get some thick 50 lb test line and tie a knot under the barb, much the same like the doc's do in the hospital to back a hook out of one of us. This works most of the time as well as pinching the barb.

This business about multilated mouth comes with the sport and to compare that with littering is beyond me. If you feel so bad about the fish then stop fishing. Some of the best hunters I kn0w and a few here have very tragicallty not on purpose , have lost game that they shot, IT IS A PERCETANGE THING that comes with that sport. Are we gonna say they do not loved their beloved outdorrs because that sport bears that risk?

Do you think I and others are out there ripping lips and getting somekind of enjoyment out of it ?We accept the fact it happens, do what we can to avoid it and for you to make this akin to littering just really gets my goat.

Paul Roberts reply :

I never suggested that angler's are enjoying mutilating fish. Nor was I equating mouth mutilation with the act of purposeful littering. Come on, Muddy.

For me, seeing mutilated bass mouths is an ugly reminder of the carelessness with which fish can be handled -if inadvertently. No one likes to tear a fish's face to remove hooks. No one that I've met. I'm definitely in that crowd. Thus, it does feel like a sort of pollution to me -an inadvertent one. Granted, it's an aesthetic. But that's a large part of why I'm out there.

It's become an issue, in my mind, in hard fished waters where fish (trout and bass) are caught repeatedly. (There are some trout waters I won't fish because of it). An occasional fish is one thing. But I started fishing a pond earlier this year in which half of the mature fish had mutilated mouths, some severely. That's when I started testing going barbless with my treble-hooks.

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IT IS A PERCETANGE THING that comes with that sport.

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We accept the fact it happens, do what we can to avoid it

Do we? One can accept it if they want to. I choose not to. There is a really good alternative: Pinch down your barbs.

Hunters and trappers, like myself, go to great pains to minimize game loss, and suffering. In fishing, pinching down barbs makes perfect sense to me. And more so now that I've begun to get such positive experiences with it in my bass fishing.

I believe the question was: Does going barbless with bass lures work? So far, for me, the answer is yes, for many lures (read above). More effectively than I initially thought.

Cheers!

Muddy reply :

Yea Cheers, you can justify it all you want .You Wrote and I quote AKIN TO THROWING BEER CANS OVERBOARD, that by defintion is littering. I guess I am just a little too callous to be concerned so much about the fish.

A pinched barb in the gut does as much damage as a barbless one. In the last 11 years I haved killed 3 fish, and maybe a dozen of so damaged lips. I would rather to minimize a released damaged lipped fish than leave a treble sticking out of it.

I know what the original question I dind't get all on Golden Pond with the issue. I ain't here for the asthetics, I am on the water to fish, treat them as good as I can, and have some fun.

Catt reply :

I think it depends on the body of water and the amount of pressure on said body of water.

If you are fishing small pond than mouth mutilation could be a problem but on larger bodies of water not so much.

So this subject in my option is totally personal and if you agree with it fine but don't tell me it's an ugly reminder of the carelessness because that is a totally false statement.

Paul Roberts reply :

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treat them as good as I can

Agreed! Exactly my point.

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an ugly reminder of the carelessness because that is a totally false statement.

An inadvertent carelessness. Don't misrepresent me -even for sport.

If half the fish you catch are mutilated and you don't like it, and there is an alternative...hmmmm... No brainer. Likely many anglers think barbed hooks are needed.

The original poster asked whether it would work, and I responded with my experiences. Not an issue on your waters, or with you? Fine with me. I'm not playing ethics police here, so don't misrepresent me.

If you wish to make it an ethical one for you, fine. That's up to you. I've made it an aesthetic issue, for me.

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If you are fishing small pond than mouth mutilation could be a problem

I see you agree, Tom.

The point is, barbless appears to work just fine -so far. In other words, it's a viable option. That's what was asked in the first place.

Muddy reply :

There is no sport and no misrepresenting you. I may not be as eloquent as you, but I really have no use for someone making pee pee on my sneakers and then telling me it's raining outside.

This is like a smart lawyer getting something in front of a jury then the other side objets, the judge sustains the objection and tells the Jury to disreguard what the first mook said TOO LATE!

Paul Roberts reply :

Muddy, you're so quick to become aggressive.

You claim you've killed three fish in so many years, and "multilated 11". So, this issue doesn't pertain to your experience. Is your beef with me real, or perceived? How have I "peed on your sneakers"?

I guess this is getting "off-topic". PM me, if you want.

Muddy reply :

You retract from what you write and then put it on me like I can not read and have something personal against you. I do not like being talked down to and dismissed and if you wrote something, that others took" the wrong way: maybe a look at the wirter and not the reader is in order. Thats when you are wetting my shoes.

I am agressive, I strongly state my points , what is wrong wioth that? I am not Threating .

What I stated was I killed 3 fish in 11 years, not 3 which would be in "so many years"

You are right I apologize we are off topic, I have no desire to pm you

Catt reply :

Misrepresent you I think not I responded to what you wrote and in your words For me, seeing mutilated bass mouths is an ugly reminder of the carelessness with which fish can be handled and then as if an after though you added -if inadvertently. I would like to assume that was not your intent but then again I don't like to assuming anything. You have a problem on your body of water and decide to take action good for you but what I've read your point is that we should all go barbless.

If we look at all the way us as anglers harm bass we would just as soon stop fishing.

atx_newbie reply :

I agree with those that don't bend. I have a hard enough time just getting them to bite that I don't want to risk one getting off ;D

But seriously, if you choose to go barbless, that's your choice, but don't make anyone else feel badly about their decision not to. Either way, it's going to hurt the fish. For instance, a couple days ago I got a really good hookset, and set the hook through his eye. Did I feel badly about it, yeah. Would that eye be any less blind had I been using a barbless hook? I doubt it.

That kind of thing comes with the territory of fishing. Complaining about people catching fish using barbed hooks is like being the mom on the football sideline, complaining that the other team is tackling too hard.

Muddy reply :

Now I have one more thing to add to the list of things I like about AUSTIN

6th Street

Antoines

SRV

atx!!!!!!!!!!!!

mayassa reply :

I bend them down, and usually only handle the big ones. Shake off the little ones. I don't want to wipe off there protective slime coat.

Paul Roberts reply :

Tom,

OK, I can see where my comments could be seen as some kind of ethical imperative. I do not want to be taken in that way. If you go back and read all my posts in this thread, you'll see I don't suggest that all anglers should go barbless, notably with certain techniques, and as you suggested, fishing pressure varies greatly across water bodies.

My point is that, from my experience so far, going barbless is a viable alternative.

Quote
I do not like being talked down to and dismissed and if you wrote something, that others took" the wrong way: maybe a look at the wirter and not the reader is in order.

Muddy, I apologize -seriously. My wife said the roughly same thing (in a much nicer way) when I told her about this thread. She just chuckled, "Men: So quick to be aggressive, or defensive, rather than apologize and explain." She thought it was an easily misunderstood analogy too.

My comment on "beer cans" was meant to portray the idea that part of my fishing is aesthetic, being in nature, and appreciating the beauty of healthy fish in a healthy water body. Mutilated mouths, and beer cans, don't fit that aesthetic. I can see how the analogy could be misconstrued. You came on so aggressively I came back with a mirrored response.

Again, sorry to have gone on the defensive and dismissed your comments.

Catt reply :

Ok after this #@$%^&* in the Gulf I suggest we put it to the test

Grey Wolf reply :

Is the war of words over yet ? Is it safe to come out yet ?

fivesixone reply :

Come on guys, get back on topic! Heh

Anyways, my last couple of outings, I've been bending the barb on my hooks to experiment a little. I've actually had nothing but good experiences with this. Haven't lost any fish that I know of and taking the hook out was 100x easier on pretty much every fish I caught. I think I'm gonna keep doing it until I have a reason not to.

Paul Roberts reply :

Yeah, Bass Brat, it's over for me. Sorry for my part in it. You can come out now LOL.

tyrius. reply :

Quote
Anyways, my last couple of outings, I've been bending the barb on my hooks to experiment a little. I've actually had nothing but good experiences with this. Haven't lost any fish that I know of and taking the hook out was 100x easier on pretty much every fish I caught. I think I'm gonna keep doing it until I have a reason not to.

Went fishing yesterday using soft plastics. Started off with the barb intact, but after really having to wrench to release a few fish I mashed the barb down. No issues after that. So, my one experience (so far) has been a good one with mashing down the barb. I will probably continue this for a at least a while to determine if it is negatively affecting my landing ratio.

However, I don't stress out about fishing for anything. Fishing for me is a way to get rid of stress, I don't need to add to it while I'm out there!

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