Barbless Hooks ?

[Lucky_Phill]

With the ever increasing fishing technics, regulations and innovations some circles suggest that the way of future of fish management rules would to have barbless hooks.

These would be seen to be more " friendly " towards C & R as well as usual fishing methods.

Certainly, some good fishos and guides use barbless hooks on their trolling lures, poppers and the like.

As an inter-active stakeholder in our fishery, I am seeking your thoughts on this option.

The Poll question, is " Would you voluntarily use barbless hooks for your type of fishing as a self-management method ? "

[Mike Delisser]

I haven't got around to crushing the barbs on the trebles of all my lures but most are now, haven't noticed any real diff, of an increase in the ammount of fish the get off after they are hooked, always the odd one barbs or no barbs. So I guess I'd say it wouldn't bother me.

Barbless is a hell of a lot easier to extract from yourself too.

[tunaticer]

If they legislate this how will you get around ganging hooks??

I use barbless sometimes, maybe 30% of the time now. Whiting especially I crush the barbs on to make deep hooked fish easier to release.

[wamjam]

I C&R 99.9% of the time while luring mainly Murray cod and or other species. I still reckon they are way to hard to get them to take the lure to start with. The bit between bite and boat doesn't need any more handy cap than there all ready is...

Scott

[Lucky_Phill]

If they legislate this how will you get around ganging hooks??


Snelled or snooded hook systems.

Or, a manufactured gang hook with a " lump " before the point.

[nigelr]

Short answer, no. No need. My self-regulation is - when I have a feed or two I go home.
Personally I can't get with C&R. but have absolutely no desire to pontificate to others.
Having said that I release all by-catch are carefully as possible.
I can assure you I love my fishing as much as anyone, if not more.
I take pleasure and pride from the fact that I tap the fishery as little and as delicately as I do, and by choice and design, not by regulation.
No regulation like self-regulation!
Cheers.

[wags on the water]

The next new idea these dimwits have is fishing without hooks as it may hurt the fish. - My answer is no to barbless hooks. If/when you hook a fish it's still gunna leave an extra hole the side of its mouth.

[Cheech]

You have got me thinking.... Initially I would have said no to them. But as I primarily use circles, and you always have tension on the line, I wonder if there would actually be any difference with circles. Next time out I will give it a try.

But having said that, because i use circles, the hook is always easy to extract from the corner of the mouth, so may be irrelevant barbed or not barbed re damage to the fish.

[tidemaster]

I got a 4/0 stainless forged hook from a fly in my face years ago. I was fishing on my own on a gulf river and had been walking down river casting for about 4 hours from the nearest road. Cutting that fly out of my face on my own convinced me that from there on in, every fly was to be barbless. Just goes to show how bad of a fly fisherman I was.

all my hardbodies are barbless as well as I find it easier to extract a lure without barbs. I havent noticed any increase in losses over barbless trebles. On the other side of the coin, I have never contemplated removing barbs from sing hook bait or jig rigs

[MudRiverDan]

You don't really see them on the shelves.
Guess you could just crimp em down.
I find barbs keep the baits on better, as for keeping a fish on I have never tried them.

[randell]

I referbish old lures sometimes.......
Found a nice 19cm off shore mackeral lure with a few barnicles even, faded rusted hooks.
I painted it , new rings and big trebles, squeezed the barbs and hung it in the shed, in case I was invited outside ...
Another diy , few beers , and I had the lure in my left shoulder............ the long nose pliers were on the shelf..........
Shoot, skin is tough...............
Got it out, even forgot I squeezed the barbs, at least the hooks were clean.
Gave it to mate up the road, he asked me out fishing, but didn't was to leave at 3am.

randell

[Chaz]

No one comes on my boat without crimping the barbs first. Easier to release fish, any size, and much,much easier to get out of me (I do go fishing with some useless people sometimes).

Chaz

[blackrat1]

Have been using barbless on our circles for Marlin for a few years now and have had good results with none throwing the hook ....To Wags ...thats the spirit ..good to see a few still living in the past

[wags on the water]

Where does the hook point come out on your fish mate???? when you hook a fish barb or no barb - it has to come out somewhere - don't you think????


The Poll question, is " Would you voluntarily use barbless hooks for your type of fishing as a self-management method ? "

The thread starter has asked a question ya clown. I have answered - as it's MY opinion.

[Si]

i dont think its just got to do with actual damage to fish's mouth from the hook with or without barb. The point that i dont think has been made clear is that with barbless hooks there are certain authorties or groups out there that believe hook removal and release is easier and less damaging to the fish as the fish spend less time out of the water, doesnt get knocked flapping about losing scales, damaging fins, dry burns etc on the floor of the boat, net damage etc. Some overseas fisheries actually make it regulation that certain species of fish are not to be removed from the water and that barbless hooks are to be used. like or not, i can see this happening to certain fish species or select fisheries within 10-20 years in Australia, possibly even our Murray Cod first...........

[blackrat1]

let me stick a hook in your arm Wags with a barb and then ill stick one in your arm without a barb ..??? and then ill pull them out .. hopefully the rest is self explanatory .. if not let me know and we can arrange a practical ..and thats MY opinion

[Gazza]

Geez Blackrat , How about I stick a barbless hook in your cheek ,and reel you in like a popper ? ::)
See how fast you can run ::) [PETA prefers Dogs for this experiment :-?]

Maybe we then ban hooks of any type :P (or preference)
hooks R 4 fish.....not people
p.s. I voted no...jmo & Merry Xmas m8

[blackrat1]

its an Analogy Genius .. and if you like ill write a bit ssloowweeerr for you so you might get it ..
And Mmeerry xxxmmaaas tttoo youuu

[fishfeeder]

I seem to drop lots of fish with barbs on my hooks, GOD I need all the help I can get to land a fish !!
When I was fly fishing I used to crush the barbs on my Bass Flies, but that was only because I knew I was going to catch myself sooner or later...

To answer the question that was asked.... I cant see the point in crushing the barbs on the hook your still going to drag the fish up from the bottom or fight the fish to you get it to the boat so its going to be stressed and buggered from the fight, if its hooked deep just cut the line and release...

Cheers

[Gazza]

its an Analogy Genius .. and if you like ill write a bit ssloowweeerr for you so you might get it ..
And Mmeerry xxxmmaaas tttoo youuuThatz cool ratz :P

p.s. I release U ,no gaff needed
& a happee new year to you 'n family

[nigelr]

If you fished C&R, maybe barbless would be the way to go?
Can't really comment as I don't fish C&R myself, but would prob make the release easier.
As a 'meat' fisher, I would definitely go barbless circles if they brought a blanket 'no barb' rule in.
Be a challenge bait fishing for tailor with pillies though!

[thylacene]

Not to hijack the thread, but can anyone provide some clues on where I might buy barbless circles 5/0 through to 10/0?

Yes I can crush the barbs, but they are still a bitch to cut out.

[wags on the water]

let me stick a hook in your arm Wags with a barb and then ill stick one in your arm without a barb ..??? and then ill pull them out .. hopefully the rest is self explanatory .. if not let me know and we can arrange a practical ..and thats MY opinion
You can grab a number and wait in line mate - There are many people in front of you in the queue.

[BLOOEY]

On fish that jump tailor, tarpon,gh's,barra, etc barbs help hold the lure in the fish when it's thrashing it's head around in the air. When livebaiting, barbs hold the livie on the hook also. I don't use circles so cannot comment on them. Ben

[Floating Rib]

Ill have 50c each way thanks, use barbs when bottom bashing for a feed outside and squash barbs in the creeks when lure and bait fishing, mostly for ease of releasing fish and for ease of removing from self, always snip hook off if deep hooked and hope for the best if releasing, no point though if your handling of the fish isnt spot on if you intend to release, always amuses me to see people holding fish up by the neck for photos and then saying they released the fish, i guess the intentions are good.

[sheridan]

Was fishing on the mitchell river for black bream caught a mixture of fish and turtles very hard to get a hook out of a turtles mouth so ground the barb down with a 12 volt grinder worked a treat didn't loose any fish and much easier to get the hook out of the turtle.

Geoff

[softplasticsdude79]

Short answer, no. No need. My self-regulation is - when I have a feed or two I go home.
Personally I can't get with C&R. but have absolutely no desire to pontificate to others.
Having said that I release all by-catch are carefully as possible.
I can assure you I love my fishing as much as anyone, if not more.
I take pleasure and pride from the fact that I tap the fishery as little and as delicately as I do, and by choice and design, not by regulation.
No regulation like self-regulation!
Cheers.

couldnt of said it better.

[wilcara]

In my experience it doesn't make any difference at all to whether or not the fish stays on, that is down to other factors entirely. Many blokes say a fish even hooks a lot easier and deeper on a barbless.

I admit that I used barbed circles on tuna so am very interested in the comment:

[QUOTEHave been using barbless on our circles for Marlin for a few years now and have had good results with none throwing the hook ....To Wags ...thats the spirit ..good to see a few still living in the past[/QUOTE]

I think I will give it a try.

Barbed hooks are a pain to manage in the boat with clothing/upholstery etc etc, not to mention feet and other places.

There is a doctors surgery on in New Zealand I think near the Tongariro where the Doc has almost a whole wall decorated with flies and lures he has cut out of fishermen.

[oldboot]

It occurs to me that the benifits and detriments of the barb vary quite a lot with different styles of hook and different styles of fishing.

For instance..where a circle hook is appropriate, I expect the use of a circle is more important for the outcome for the fish than the presence of a barb.....

In some situations where the fight is long and the fish is mouth hooked, by the finish, the barb may be not doing a thing, because of the size of the hole.

If a fish is gut hooked, its probaly buggered, barb or no barb, no matter the style of hook.

Lots of people fish big game with barbless hooks and report little or no difference to the retention.

I can see that a clean sharp barbless hook may actually penerate better, and isn't just getting the solid hook up the issue in lots of fishing...I am sure there are situations where the fish is only partly hooked, because the barb as stopped penetration and the fish throws the hook.

And as you work thru all the different situations they will all be different.

The real issue is the availability of barbless hooks, I have never seen one on display or in a catalogue.

Has there been any decent science done on the matter?


cheers

[thephotoguru]

Vary rare that I use a hook with a barb, Have been using babrless (or crushed barbs when I can't get barbless) for a couple years.
Mostly buy from USA and buy hundreds at a time so i shouldn't get caught short, would be nice if you could get them easily over here.
Not noticed any diference in catch rate and I often fish with others that use barbed hooks, the reason for using barbless hooks in the first place was for safey reasons, getting an 8/0 stuck in you when your 2-3 hours away and the weather turns bad doesn't appeal.
Each to their own but on my boat it is babrless hooks only.

Cheers Eamon

[wags on the water]

If you are hooking yourself or the carpet/upholstery then I'd have to say....you are doing it wrong.....

[ifishcq1]

If it means we will be allowed to keep fishing and not having it banned then I am for barbless hooks in most applications
Finally got to try barbless circles using baits on red emperor, sweeties, trout, chinaman, barra, jack,and tarpon in the last fortnight and no dropped fish due to hook coming out, you have to let the fish hook itself definitely no striking because you pull the hook straight out of their mouth
I did lose a spanish at the boat when he bit through the snelled hook mono as it changed direction and went across his teeth but he left with a barbless circle still in his mouth
all but one had the circle hook around the jaw hinge with no gut hood fish at all and there were no fish jagged in the side or the head
we usually get a couple of foul hooked hussar and sweetlip or doggies so maybe the catch was down
offshore lures get to keep barbs on though no lure comes in the barra boat until the barbs come off and it makes absolutely no difference to catch rate at all. I even landed 8 from 8 barras between 450mm and 775mm on Friday arvo using barbless hooked lures, that says enough for me
no problem with getting barbless hooks and we don't pinch the barbs either it is way better to roll pointy pliers around the hook taking the barb off and leaving it smooth

cheers

[Lucky_Phill]

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm246/Lucky_Phill/06022012.jpg

this could not be so bad, with barbless hooks.

:) :P


LP