Do you ever fish barbless? Why or why not? 2025
M0xxie reply :
TLDR I was wondering about your guys’ opinions on crimping-down hook barbs. Do you? Don’t you? Always? Sometimes? Never? Why or why not?
So I’ve been crimping my barbs on some of my hooks. It started when I was unhooking a bleeder (largemouth), and the barb was obviously causing a lot of damage; it ended up ripping a big blood vessel in his throat, and I wasn’t comfortable releasing him. I do harvest some juvenile eating-sized black bass, but usually in the fall (to thin the schools, so the larger breeders have a better shot at surviving the winter) but I didn’t have my cooler with me, so I ended up cutting my fishing trip short so I could go home and clean him (it was a really hot day). If that barb hadn’t been there, that largie prrrobably would have survived. Probably.
Now then, getting philosophical (and just a bit political), I really dislike state policies that mandate barbless hooks — I tend to be vvvery libertarian-minded on most political issues, and I’m sure a lot of you are also. If you’re an adult, you do what want, when you want, as long as you aren’t hurting others or their property and you accept full responsibility for your actions. So I’m definately against barbless mandates, bbbut there are some advantages to barbless. And if you disagree, that's not only fine, it's encouraged.
I’ve been an avid fisherman since I was a little kid, I’m in my mid-30’s now, and I’ve NEVER hooked myself past the barb, knock on wood. I’ve had friends that have hooked themselves, and it kind of puts a damper on the day if we get it out, or ends the trip then and there. One of my friends in high school had a pike shake and put the hook perfectly around and underneath a vein in the back of his hand. Surprisingly, not a lot of blood, because it missed the vein and the pike had popped-off the treble, thankfully — there was no going to the “fishing line trick” to snap the hook out on that one.
My sister is an eye surgeon, and I finally had to have her stop discussing hook-in-eye injuries with me. She sees cases not too often when she’s on call, but not infrequently in the summertime, so if you’re feeling brave, go search “fishing hooks in eyeball” images online (you’ll never leave your sunglasses on the tailgate again). You can imagine that if you get hooked in the eye, it’s never going to be the same again, and according to her they never are.
We would all like our hook sets to be in the roof of the bass’ mouth, but it’s not always happening that way. My understanding is that if you tear a big enough hole in thin cheek membranes, they rarely heal shut (according to a fisheries biologist I’ve talked to) — some people say differently — I think those that say, “oh yeah, no big deal, those big rips heal up in a week” — I’d like to see their evidence. They say that because they realize they’re handicapping those fish — fish that have a giant hole in their cheek can’t suck-up baitfish as well as those that don’t — the suction is reduced by up to 34% on average ( https://jeb.biologists.org/content/221/19/jeb180935 ). If the rip is big enough, I just cull those fish now, too. Again, I don’t have a problem killing fish, but it’s just an inconvenience if you didn’t bring a stringer or a cooler with you, and I refuse to not eat any animal I kill (including mosquitoes and roadkill…just kidding 
[though I have actually eaten roadkill]).
And we’ve all had hooks in our clothing before, I’m guessing. Barbless, you just pull them out, no big deal.
Have I lost fish on barbless? Well of course, but I can count on one hand the number of fish that got away since I started this experiment last season. I think it also makes playing the fish in more engaging because you have to constantly figure out the best angle to hold your rod for the best line tension. There are a lot of hooks that I don’t crimp — for different reasons. Like if I dropshot a nosehooked fluke, I wont crimp because that barb holds the plastic on there. Or if I want to land more fish than my buddies. Or I want some bluegill for flathead bait. Or I forgot my pliers in the truck. Or maybe I just don’t want to. But I’ve honestly probably lost just as many fish on barbed hooks during this experiment, too. And do we honestly have to land EVERY fish we catch? Isn’t the fight what we're doing it for, and if you get her in close enough and she pops off, it’s like, “hey, good fight, you did me a favor, actually”? Sometimes if you’re catching them one after the other, back to back to back casts, quick release is better -- just put some slack in the line.
So those are just some of my thoughts. Curious about your thoughts about barbless, now.
Hammer 4 reply :
Some years ago some friends and I fished a small lake that required No barbs. Most of us did o.k. very few fish lost. Anyway, I crimped a bunch of single hooks and some treble hooked baits. I fished those barbless hooks and baits for a long time, infact the fish in my profile pic was caught on a babrless split shot, with a 4" hologram roboworm rig on 6lb copoly. Nowadays I'm to lazy to crimp any barbs..
NHBull reply :
My wife "requires" me to crush her barb.
Since she is a very part-time angler, she can be slow on the hook set, and often gets guy hooked fish.
Barbless helps she going through the bills to remove it
Mike L reply :
Only when practicing for a tournament and sometimes when I take the kids out.
Mike
drew4779 reply :
Only when fishing certain parks that require it and I used to when I would take my daughters fishing when they were young.
haggard reply :
Always barbless. Easier on me, easier on the fish.
This one was barbless (crushed) but still wouldn't back out easily. I could have backed it out with some tissue damage but pushed it through instead (surprisingly not painful!) and continued fishing Can't imagine how bad it would be if I had to back it out with a barb.
Jaderose reply :
The only ones I DON'T crimp the barbs down on are frogs. I buried a Rat-L-Trap treble in my thumb up to the bend a few years ago (with the very mad bass still on the OTHER treble) and it wasn't fun. It's also simply easier to release fish from a crimped barb hook. I don't think my hook up rate has suffered at all.
M0xxie reply :
On 8/24/2019 at 8:22 PM, haggard said:Always barbless. Easier on me, easier on the fish.
This one was barbless (crushed) but still wouldn't back out easily. I could have backed it out with some tissue damage but pushed it through instead (surprisingly not painful!) and continued fishing
Yikes, looks like that was in your heel? Agreed, it's probably better to cut the barbless hook and push it through anyway, if you have side-cutters handy, and you make a good point because when you crimp the barb down, theres still a little knob left which can still help keep fish (or you) pinned-on.
Bass_Fishing_Socal reply :
Most of my the lures with treble hook are mostly barbless otherwise replaced with inline single hook, mostly to protect myself.
When I first started fishing with Fluke, I would crushed all barb on the hook due to a few lost bass on gutted hook. Nowadays I don’t have gutted hook as often, maybe once or twice a year so I leave the hook as they are.
Todd2 reply :
This thread has got me thinking..going back into the river tomorrow where we caught almost two limits of White Bass on small crankbaits last weekend. I'll go barbless tomorrow and see, should get a good sampling. Hard to get those cranks out of Whites and small Bass sometimes. I'll report back with my detailed findings..lol
greentrout reply :
bass pro shops yrs. ago sold barbless bass hooks ... bought a lot of 'em ... still have plenty ... still use from time to time ... t rig ...they work ... keep the pressure on ... good pct. kept for when they jump ...
easy hook removal ...
good fishing ...
M0xxie reply :
On 8/24/2019 at 10:46 PM, Todd2 said:This thread has got me thinking..going back into the river tomorrow where we caught almost two limits of White Bass on small crankbaits last weekend. I'll go barbless tomorrow and see, should get a good sampling. Hard to get those cranks out of Whites and small Bass sometimes. I'll report back with my detailed findings..lol
Kinetic baits, like cranks, are the hooks I'm most likely to crimp, since you just keep reeling to set the hook and you can just keep tension on the line and keep them pinned that way, which you're doing already just by reeling. Also good point about fish size, since smaller mouths give you less space to disgorge.
I guess bait-holder hooks would be the hooks I would be least likely to crimp, since you need the barb to hold your live bait on. Danger zone for losing a fish on barbless is after you get them out of the water and before theyre in your hand or net.
Also, I know the wary feeling of "hey I just bought this lure and now I'm gonna 'ruin' it by crimping the barbs?" First of all, factory hooks are kind of trash anyway; and it takes, what, 2 mins to replace crimped hooks back to barbed?
Glad thread has you thinking about it, because we're just kind of born into barbed hooks, just like dad and grandpa and great grandpa were, without really questioning barbed hook use -- I mean I've fished for 3 decades before I even considered it as an option.
Good luck, and tight lines
BASS302 reply :
After getting a hook stuck underneath my index fingernail on my right hand (I'm right handed), I've been smashing down the barbs on my bass lures. My trout lures are about 50/50.
JediAmoeba reply :
It seems like only the barbless guys are chiming in on this thread. I never go barbless and I have never hooked myself too bad - I have stuck a treble in my hand a few times but just popped it out, clipped it off and backed it out.
My feeling is, if I can back a barbless hook out of my hand that easy, it can obviously back out just as easily on my pb that is on that same hook. No way I am taking that chance
fin reply :
I had a situation like you, where I gut-hooked a nice fish and I was way back in the woods, no way I could take her home. After that I went on a barbless kick for probably a year or more, but at some point I quit. I was losing more fish than I was gut-hooking, but that’s not to say that I was losing a lot of fish - it was just extremely rare I gut-hooked a fish.
When I gut-hook a fish on a single hook, I cut my line, insert my hemostats through the gills and pull the hook straight on through instead of trying to back it out. The line tie (especially on a 1/0) causes way less damage than the barb. I don’t think I’ve ever gut-hooked a fish with a crank bait. (knock on wood)
If I fished somewhere that I was catching a lot of fish, I would go back to barbless, but where I fish, it’s rare to catch more than a fish per hour.
I also like to play my fish out, so they’re not spastic when I’m trying to remove the hook. I don’t mind a fish getting off the hook most of the time, but I like to at least get a look at the large ones. Getting them to bite is the most rewarding part, but I’ve lost some large fish and I still wonder just how large they were.
I think anyone who fishes barbless is to be commended, but I also have to say from a conservationist point of view, it’s a grain of sand in the beach of abuse on fish resources.
J._Bricker reply :
My poll response “sometimes” was due to when it’s required by law. Here in California that would probably pertain certain waters where you’re probably after salmon or trout. Of course, when I find myself in the situation @haggard provided, I wished hook I’d just stuck myself with was barbless!
M0xxie reply :
A really good start to this thread, fellas -- enjoying all of responses -- and thanks for voting, too
The part I like most is your guys' reasoning behind why you do or don't barb -- everyone has a different approach and has differing conditions and regulations that influence choices.
schplurg reply :
I do barbless when I need to. I have a plano box of cheap cranks and tackle just for this location.
If I have a barbless on at another fishery I just keep it on. My friend has lost a lot of fish because of barbless I think.
After watching a guy just yesterday use a pair of pliers to remove a very deep hook from his finger I may rethink this.
I caught both of my biggest fish to date barbless - 4.75 and 5.25 lbs.
fishwizzard reply :
I de-barb most all of my cranks that still have trebles. I hate hurting a fish that I am just going to throw back and an emergency room trip would really kill my tackle-fund.
Single hooks I do de-barb if the risk of a gut-hook is high, like fishing weightless plastics in the wind.
haggard reply :
On 8/24/2019 at 10:18 PM, M0xxie said:Yikes, looks like that was in your heel? Agreed, it's probably better to cut the barbless hook and push it through anyway, if you have side-cutters handy, and you make a good point because when you crimp the barb down, theres still a little knob left which can still help keep fish (or you) pinned-on.
Not the heel but about halfway up the bottom of the foot, towards the inside edge. How it was so relatively painless is beyond me but I'l take that all day 
I carry the cutters to quickly cut/clear hook and lure away when I gut hook a fish (gives much more working room), but after this I learned an equally important use: you're right, it allows you to cut the hook closet to the wound and pull through a minimal amount of metal. They really need to be a little stout as those hooks are tough - around 6 to 8 inches - not the light duty ones typically used for trimming leads with electronics work.
TnRiver46 reply :
Never for me. I like to eat fish
Spankey reply :
Catch and release trout areas only. But never bass fishing.
Sam reply :
When prefishing for tournaments.
Josh Smith reply :
I crush the kids' barbs down.
Recently, I've discovered deepthroat hooks that have only rudimentary barbs to begin with. I suspect I'll be buying more of those and crushing them down.
Regards,
Josh
j bab reply :
Great discussion here. I've never fished barbless, but it sounds like there are some good reasons to consider it.
Does anyone make barbless bass hooks, or are you required to crush them yourself?
Todd2 reply :
On 8/24/2019 at 10:46 PM, Todd2 said:This thread has got me thinking..going back into the river tomorrow where we caught almost two limits of White Bass on small crankbaits last weekend. I'll go barbless tomorrow and see, should get a good sampling. Hard to get those cranks out of Whites and small Bass sometimes. I'll report back with my detailed findings..lol
I decided to not target the Whites..my freezer is getting full and I do quite a bit of cold water Crappie fishing, so I need to leave some room for them..lol
I did throw a barbless crank some, caught two dink Bass without issue..but the better bite was the T-Rig yesterday. I'll try it some more.
J Francho reply :
I smash the barbs down when I'm steelhead fishing in winter. It's easier to remove the hook from a big trout in the freezing cold and makes for a quicker release. For bass, it's not a problem, so I leave the barbs alone.
j bab reply :
On 8/24/2019 at 3:45 PM, M0xxie said:I’ve NEVER hooked myself past the barb, knock on wood.
Also, I said that to someone at ICAST and just a few weeks later this happened:
WRB reply :
California has had areas designated for artifical lures with barbless hooks where fishing for trout, steelhead and salmon as far back as I can remember. So yes I have fished with barbless flies and lures when required.
Tom
A-Jay reply :
Never had a reason to.
A-Jay
Pickle_Power reply :
I've gone to Manitoba twice and fished exclusively barbless per regulations. It was 15 years ago, but I don't remember losing many fish; even though I was a novice compared to my skill level now.
I had a near miss with a small catfish shaking a hook into my thumb the other day. I will try to go barbless occasionally and see how it goes.
TnRiver46 reply :
On 8/26/2019 at 10:02 PM, j bab said:Great discussion here. I've never fished barbless, but it sounds like there are some good reasons to consider it.
Does anyone make barbless bass hooks, or are you required to crush them yourself?
A lot of the flies we order at work from umpqua are barbless. Don’t know about bass stuff, the bass flies usually have a meat hook with a big barb
tracker01 reply :
I fish a few farm ponds and I use barbless hooks 100% of the time. I do not want to wear out my welcome with a few gut hooked Bass floating around after I leave. Do I loose a fish every now and then, sure. No big deal.
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