There needs to be a catalyst before an angler decides to go barbless.
Using barbless hooks can have many advantages, yet it’s not as widely spread as it should be. It’s not a surprise though, as most anglers think that barbless hooks will always hurt the chances of landing a fish, and it’s just simply not worth it if you want to use your time effectively. That’s what I believed, too. Spoiler alert: I changed my mind since then. But before, I was afraid of losing my dream fish because my hooks didn’t have barb on them. Then something happened, about 3 years ago…
I snagged my wobbler up on a tree, and as I was applying some force to pull it down, it just started flying right at my face at hypersonic speed… I managed to cover my face with my hands, and one hook point of the lure’s treble landed deep in the joint capsule of my finger. Better than my eyes, right? At first, I didn’t really feel it because the adrenaline was working hard, but then when I tried to move it, it started to hurt like hell. Of course, the hook had a barb on it, and it was stuck deep inside a joint. It was the first time this happened to me.
At this point, I had two options basically: go to the nearest hospital and find a doctor to anesthetize my finger and remove the hook, or yank it out on the spot. As I later learned, if you want to do it yourself, you have to do it right as the hook stucks in you. The adrenaline in you lets you act without being in a lot of pain. Here is a video of a good technique if you have to do it yourself on the spot. But in my case, as it was stuck in a joint capsule and I didn’t know about this technique either, I could not do it myself. Thankfully, there was another angler in the nearby boat, who happened to be a dentist with steady hands, and I asked him to try to pull it out. He started out trying to remove it slowly and carefully, but it did not want to come out. And it hurt bad when he moved it. After some time of trying slowly and carefully without success, he applied some pressure and finally pulled it out. That was my catalyst. Right there and then, I decided to start using barbless hooks and crimp the barbs on my trebles.
1. You don’t want barbed hooks in you, trust me.
I don’t feel like giving much explanation to this after the previous story, but let me just add this. If you are an angler who goes out frequently, you will eventually get a hook stuck in you. It is just a matter of time. Or even worse, you get a hook stuck in your friend or partner. And when it happens, trust me, you will want that hook to be barbless! This is why my mom stopped fishing. My dad gave her a rod just to carry, but somehow a tiny hook stuck in her finger, and they had to go to the ER to get it out. Ever since then, my mom never joined us. If it’s a barbless hook that’s stuck in you, you can easily remove it in a second and carry on fishing without any fuss. Not convinced yet? Watch this video of a guy hooking himself in the mouth.
2. Barbless hooks won’t make you lose more fish!
Soon after my incident with the barbed treble, I went on a fishing trip with my friend Ben, who had been using only barbless hooks for a long time. It was my dream to catch a barbel on the lure, and he knew the place and the method for it and was happy to guide me around his favorite river. On this 3-day trip, we both only used single barbless hooks on our wobblers or crimped the barbs on our offset hooks. It turned out to be an amazing fishing trip, with every day holding a new PB. On the first day, we caught many decent chubs, including a personal best chub for me with a nice full length of 48 cm. The second day was the day of barbels, both of us catching beautiful and amazingly strong fish on the UL gear. My dream finally came true with my first-ever barbel on a lure! And it was a decent one, too, with a 58 cm full length. On our last day, I managed to break my chub record, which was set just 2 days ago. Yet again, an amazing fish with a full length of 53 cm. All of those fish were caught on lures with barbless hooks. Not a single fish lost mid-fight, because of the absence of the barbs.
After this trip, I was fully convinced that in most cases, barbless is the way to go. And even since then, after almost 3 years, I rarely lose any fish mid-fight. Definitely not more than in my “ancient times”, with barbs. I think I even lose less fish. My friend, Ben thinks that single barbless hooks catch even more than barbed trebles because the hooks can get stuck more easily and deeper, and the wound doesn’t widen as you are fighting the fish. I think that there must be some truth to that. There is one key aspect though! You have to make sure to have tight lines during the fight and never lose the tension. If you lose the tension, the fish will be able to easily shake out the hook, but that’s a good thing when they are in the net, or when they break off your lure.
3. Unhooking is much easier with barbless hooks.
Unhooking can be a pain with barbed hooks. Both for you and the fish. In some cases, like when it’s deeply swallowed and a fish is gut hooked, it can be really difficult to unhook fish. The damage done is also always worse with barbs, as the wound is bigger too. Barbs can make the unhooking process way longer than needed and can result in a dead fish even when you want to release it. If you are using live bait, like worm, maggot, or dead bait, deep hooking is very frequent. On the other hand, when you are using lures with barbless hooks, the unhooking process is so simple that most of the time you don’t have to do anything. Once the fish is in the net, and the tension is released, they can just shake it out in a second. Even more so, if you are using single hooks, which in my opinion work better on small lures, instead of small treble hooks.
4. You don’t want to leave barbed hooks in the nature.
You don’t want to leave any hook in anything. But let’s be real, it happens that there was a weak point somewhere in your system, and a big fish breaks off. Or when you are fishing for smaller brown trout in a tiny river, and an unexpected and huge sea trout appears and badly breaks you off. In some cases, the fish will eventually shake it out, but sometimes, if it’s more hook points, or if it’s too deep, they just can’t shake it out and it can result in them eventually dying. On the other hand, if you are using barbless hooks, and a fish breaks off, not only they can easily spit it out, but sometimes you get your lure back this way. It happened to me actually, with my favorite topwater frog lure. I was furious that a big pike bit me off, but then I noticed that it spat out my lure in front of me. Then, I retied it, and I caught the same fish in 2 casts. Don’t believe me? I caught the whole thing on video!
5. It’s the law. In more and more cases.
In some fishing locations, the use of barbless hooks is a legal requirement, especially in areas where catch-and-release practices are encouraged. Anglers must adhere to these regulations to help preserve fish populations and ecosystems. We can expect more and more associations to apply this regulation. So better get used to it, and go barbless even when it’s not mandatory!
6. Easier hook removal from gear
It often happens, that a hook is stuck in the seat of your car, in your net, t-shirt, jacket, or anywhere. It’s difficult to remove a barbed hook from textile and even if you manage, your barbs will cause some serious damage along the way out.
7. It just makes sense if you practice C&R
If you care about the health of our aquatic ecosystems, then most likely you want to minimize the damage done by you to the environment. You also probably often practice the catch-and-release method. Did you know, that there is evidence that the mortality rate for fish caught with barbed flies or lures is almost double the mortality rate of fish caught with barbless flies or lures? And if you want to release the catch anyway, then why not use barbless hooks, fully knowing that it’s better for the fish population and overall for the environment?
Even if you are afraid of losing a big catch, think about it this way: it’s a bit more challenging with barbless hooks, but the glory of catching will be even greater, right? And you are more of a sportsman, being more fair with your opponent. Your fun doesn’t have to hurt the fish (as much). But I’m telling you that sometimes the fish doesn’t even notice that it was hooked if you use barbless hooks and don’t take the fish out of the water.
Okay, but should you ALWAYS use barbless hooks?
I use barbless hooks about 99% of the time, but not always.
If I’m jigging for pike or perch with a wire leader and I notice that my barb is not crimped, I don’t always bother. With a wire leader, there is virtually no chance of a pike taking my lure and being stuck with a barbed hook. If I were using a thin Fluorocarbon leader for smaller lures, then I would remove the barbs, because of the reason I mentioned: I don’t want to decorate any pike with a piercing. Bear in mind, that almost all of my 40+ giant perch were caught on barbless hooks.
I don’t always go barbless when fishing for garfish, herring, or sea trout with single hooks when I want to take some home. Outside of Catch-and-release, it’s ok to use barbed lures, in my opinion.
However, when using treble hooks, in every case I remove the barbs by crimping them. Honestly, at this point, it’s a habit and it just kind of triggers me a bit to see trebles with barbs on.
Well, these are my takes on this topic. I hope I managed to bring up some convincing points that will make you consider crimping your barbs more often or trying out single barbless hooks. And remember, in this game, eventually, you will get a hook stuck in you. And that hook better be barbless! 😉
