# Barbless Hooks



## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

I started pinching my barbs on windy days after smacking myself a few good times. Got one stuck in my face one time trying to keep my backcast way up over some tall grass, but luckily it didn't go to the barb. I always wear glasses now, too!


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

I smash all mine. Sometimes I even smash my friends while they aren't looking.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

jmrodandgun said:


> . Sometimes I even smash my friends while they aren't looking.


Lol


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

On my own, if I'm in the spotted sea trout, reds (especially redfish), snook, ladyfish, bonita, jacks..... and I figure they are typically going to be the same particular size without getting into anything really big, then I will smash the barb. If I'm specifically stalking big fish or something unique, then I wouldn't.

That being said, it's important to position the boat/skiff so that the wind is not blowing your fly back at cha! Or, you communicate with your buddy and agree that someone back cast and the other forward cast, depending on the winds, the boat positioning and who is willing to do what.

That all being said, learn what to do and how to cast in all the various directions of the wind. Also know that there are some situations where the winds will just make it impossible to fly fish. So have your plan "B" available.

Ted


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## krash (Jan 9, 2007)

Don;t crimp the barbs, but I do replace all trebbles with single hooks


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

I prefer barbs, don't like losing nice fish because the hook fell out on a head shake. Also the barbs on the size 2 hooks I normally fish are pretty small and thin compared to the barbs most of the conventional tackle guys use.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

If you are crushing them for your own personal safety you then you need to spend some time figuring out what you can and can't do with your cast. Certain wind directions can limit what you can safely get away with.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I routinely mash down the barbs on almost every hook (fly, lure, etc) that's being used on my skiff. I do leave the barbs intact on hooks being used with live baits, though. Pretty frustrating when that hard won live bait slips right off the hook at the first opportunity...


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## jmrodandgun (Sep 20, 2013)

Were barbs not originally intended to keep live bait from falling off the hook? For whatever it's worth, I don't think I have ever lost a fish because of a missing barb. I've certainly lost them in situations where a barb may have saved me, but it was always my fault and not the hooks fault. 

The hook set feels more forgiving without the barb.


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

yobata said:


> How many of you guys use barbless hooks for inshore (snook, reds, trout, etc.)? My friend has hooked me more than a few times now in the back of the head/neck even though I warned him he was getting close. That bastard just laughs about it too while I'm bleeding back there and then asks when my last tetanus shot was


Damn @yobata, so you were poling this dude around helping spot fish....he's hooked you more than a few times...then LAUGHS about it. I can see three solutions to this, none involve smashing barbs.... I'll list them in order of least fun to most fun...

Make him fish a Zebco 33 (pink) until he learns to watch his back-cast.
Buy a trolling motor and fish solo.
Buy a nice Rapala X-Rap Glass Ghost, have it loaded and ready on a fast action rod you can cast accurately. When he hooks you, cast that gnarly double treble bastard into him and set the hook/hooks with some authority. I say use the X-Rap, because those things are really damn pretty, and if you're going to embed a lure in a friend.... do it with some style. 
Good Luck
LH


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

el9surf said:


> I prefer barbs, *don't like losing nice fish because the hook fell out on a head shake*.


If you are constantly keeping tension/ pressure on the flyline, then a barbless hook will stay buttoned. It's when those guys get a strike, forget to strip stike the fish, then stop what they are doing and wind in the excess line on the deck, is when the fish gets enough slack to shake out a hook (barbless or barbed) that has not been properly set. I see this all the time....people worried about getting the fish on the reel more than landing the fish.

Now ladyfish, spanish mackerel and micro/ juvi poons are another story. All 3 have a fierce head shake and can even unpin themselves on barbed hooks. However, with all 3, especially the ladyfish, I still like fishing them with barbless hooks since the fun of them is the bite, the hook set and the 1st few jumps. Then I'll purposely allow some slack in the line to do an LDR! 

Once you get enough fish under your belt, then going barbless is the next step up into walking in that higher level of fly fishing. Some of the very best rainbow and brown trout streams up north are barbless only. So have confidence man.... 

Besides, I like my fish to have less injury and stress. Adding to the fact of ripping barbed hooks out of their mouth or other places doesn't help them any. Believe me, I'm guilty of that as charged. So it's a nice change to see when gently handling a fish to have the hook come out with ease when removing it.


Capt. LeMay, good point with crimping down the barbs on your lures! I remember incidents while fishing with both of my brothers. One got a large 3 treble large Mirror Lure caught in the trees and he yanked it out and the thing came flying out of the tree and into the high side of his cheek on his face. All 3 treble hooks buried themselves in his cheek and cheek bone into an opposing position and you couldn't use the string trick. He had to have them surgically removed. My oldest brother, myself and his friend were fishing deep in the middle Glades with deep jigs for small Goliath grouper and big snook on the river banks. His buddy slung a 1/2oz 6/0 bucktail jig and buried it into the back of my brother's neck. The barbs of those cadmium plated hooks were huge and it was buried past the bend of the hook and we didn't want to chance the string trick. So it was a long ride back to the ramp and to the hospital.

I'm fortunate I've never had a major hook impalement. I chalk that up to looking and knowing what's happing with your casting. Also having a talk with whoever I'm fishing with so we don't end up with problems in that dept.

Ted Haas


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

haha LH! I love the guy and have grown up with him so it comes with the friendship I guess. He is a pretty good angler (spin) but is new to the fly rod. He is also in the medical field, so to him a minor thing like a hook in a body is very fixable... 

On a side note, a friend of mine was fishing off of a dock when we were 15yrs old with another guy, back to back, and got a treble hook from a YoZuri Long-A right in the eye ball! His recovery was pretty long and in the end the doctors replaced his cornea with one harvested from a pig


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

LowHydrogen said:


> . I'll list them in order of least fun to most fun...
> 
> Make him fish a *Zebco 33 (pink)* until he learns to watch his back-cast.


LMAO


Yobata, your buddy can now litterially relate to that quote.... "In a pig's eye!" Lol JK 

Whoa, that was low of me!  That musta hurt like hell!


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## jonrconner (May 20, 2015)

Always crush my barbs, easier to remove flies from whatever they're stuck in. With teeny little trout flies it's really hard to get them out if the barb is left up, and is especially difficult when you bury one in your finger in the process of getting it out. You also don't wreck your flies while removing them with pliers or clamps.
JC


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## TGlidden (May 24, 2013)

Barbless everything (fly and conventional) on my boats, both for me and the fish. Catch and release fishing I think it makes it much easier for the fish to recover, along with minimizing fight time, and I like it when I get hooked. Which can happen both on backcasts and landing fish.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

TGlidden said:


> and I like it when I get hooked..


Not me! 

Lol


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Thanks @yobata for this thread, it reminded me to go find the Kleins I took out of the boat the other day, and put them back IN the boat. They're old as hell, but I cut through a 6/0 circle stuck in a Trigger fish the other day with one hand and very little effort.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I've been to the ER twice over the years with hooks in me that we couldn't remove (the last one a 7/0 tail hook on a barracuda tube lure - in the back of my head full buried up under the scalp for about 3/4"...). That last time it was my wife that got me - and, yes, it was my fault... The worst hooks for biting the guy holding them have to be tiny #10 or #12 hair hooks for catching multiple pinfish. Bad news if you get one of them up under a fingernail - so yes, all have the barbs flattened, period.

For those who fish for a living most have heard the lament "my anglers couldn't hook anything but me...." so there's certainly a bit of self interest involved for barbless hooks. That said, barbless hooks make hooksetting much easier - the hook slides into place like was greased with the barb flattened - and still holds pretty darned well if you keep the line tight... For those not able to keep the line tight with a big (or small) fish on -you're as likely to come un-buttoned with a barbed or barbless hook.... At least that's my take on it.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

Guess I'm not at the zen master level yet. I just want to catch fish lol, barbs or not. Actually never thought of mashing the barbs down on my flies, I just tie the flies on and go fish.


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## CrappieFisherman (Mar 15, 2015)

Before I start to tie a new fly, the first thing I do is crush the barb. This is actually the easiest time to do this, and I don't risk damaging the fly after it's tied (especially with the bigger saltwater hooks).

When I fish, I fish catch and release. If, by using barbs, I lose more fish then who cares...because I still know that my fly and technique was good enough to elicit a strike.


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## matauman (Nov 4, 2014)

I'm all for crushing the barb, especially on nymphs.

I was very remote in a far off land and decided to change out part of my rig. I was using a double nymph rig and cut it off and put the middle of the line in my mouth with a nymph on both sides, you know how this ends.

It was cold and windy and didn't realize one of the nymphs attached to my coat sleeve and when I lowered my arm the other nymph decided I need a lip piercing.

Now I know EXACTLY how the fish feels and it hurt like hell.


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## jonrconner (May 20, 2015)

matauman said:


> I'm all for crushing the barb, especially on nymphs.
> 
> I was very remote in a far off land and decided to change out part of my rig. I was using a double nymph rig and cut it off and put the middle of the line in my mouth with a nymph on both sides, you know how this ends.
> 
> ...


Two fly rigs definitely present the best opportunity for hooking yourself!
JC


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

el9surf said:


> I just want to catch fish lol, barbs or not. Actually never thought of mashing the barbs down on my flies, I just tie the flies on and go fish.


You can start out by only smashing down the very end of the barb point to the hook. That will still leave a bump big enough to keep the hook in-place without it sliding out in case your line is slack. That will give you the comfort level that there is something (a bump) there to help hold the hook in, but the barb point will be crimped down for easy removal (stuck in fish, your buddy or you). 


It's all a learning curve (i.e time vs knowledge, experience, and awareness).



el9surf said:


> Guess I'm not at the zen master level yet.


.......









In due time.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

I started crushing barbs on my conventional tackle and can't really tell a difference. I lost the occasional fish before and I still do. It is just much easier to unhook them now. I hate struggling to unhook a deep hooked non-keeper fish when it inevitably happens. Anything that makes it faster and easier on the fish is worth losing a few.

Nate


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

krash said:


> Don;t crimp the barbs, but I do replace all trebbles with single hooks


What style of singles do you use on lures? I've been switching my stuff to Gamakatsu octopus hooks, but was wondering if an O'Shaughnessy style would be more appropriate for lures.

Nate


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## texasag07 (Nov 11, 2014)

I crush the barbs on almost all my flies. I catch and release 95% of the fish I catch so making it easier on them is the way to go. Well as easier as it can be after I stick them in the mouth with a hook.

That and my wife at times is known to get a bit wild with her backcast especially when excited. So the crushed barbs helps there as well.


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## krash (Jan 9, 2007)

WhiteDog70810 said:


> What style of singles do you use on lures? I've been switching my stuff to Gamakatsu octopus hooks, but was wondering if an O'Shaughnessy style would be more appropriate for lures.
> 
> Nate


Started with standard hooks but the ring is 90 degrees off so I was using dual split rings, then went to ringed hooks by Owner Flyliner hooks with split ring.. but more recently last year Owner, and VMC, perhaps other manu's also, released hooks purpose made for this application with the ring inline with the bend in the hook. Owners version Owner Single Replacement Hook, VMC calls them VMC Inline Single Hook.
A friend uses circle's as replacements and is happy with them as well.
Not long ago I saw lures advertised with an option for either type hook, single or trebble, when ordered forget which brand.
DIY...


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## Harlieb3 (Dec 16, 2013)

I have replaced most of the hooks on my traditional tackle (stick baits) with circle hooks. Is anyone using circle hooks for flys?


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Harlieb3 - I've tried them numerous times years ago, from tarpon to small stuff. They can work, tho I love the thrill of a strip-set for some warped reason. 

Funny you should ask that question tho, I recently had a situation where there was a bend in a jetty where snook would hide just on the other side of the bend and also where the outgoing tide, caused an eddy there. So the current would swirl around. If you were lucky enough to get one to eat, by the time the eddy would allow you to have a tight enough line to feel the fish on the other end (so you could strip set him), which could take 4-6 seconds, the fish would sit there, not move and spit the fly out. So by adding a quazi-circle hook, the hook would sort of catch and hang there long enough for me to come tight on the line. I ended up pulling several snook out of that whirlpool last month with it.

Here's the fly I tied with the semi-circle hook (almost like a J-hook with a circle bend in it). Notice the barb is small and with that paticular situation, I was keeping the barb to help hold on to the fish at that point until the line could come tight. The fly is a spin-off of my "Greenie." Here's something you may like about it. The main white shiny body is brushed-out core cord of a paracord! Ever notice that stuff! 

I'm calling it a "Paracord Sardine!"


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

I am not a guide I use barbs. Call me a barbarian


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

permitchaser said:


> I am not a guide I use barbs. Call me a barbarian


Barbarian! 

Couldn't resist! Ha!  

Nah it's ok. No one here to judge. Just different preferences for different people! 

On a different note..... PC, we need a different avatar pic of you. I'm tired of lookin at your butt! 

LOL


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Backwater said:


> Barbarian!
> 
> Couldn't resist! Ha!
> 
> ...


I am not changing it till I catch a Tarpon on fly. That was taking while trying to see them in dirty water
Next year I am going to the keys where you can see um coming


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