Barbed or barbless hooks

[Tigger]

Just curious on peoples preference when it comes to hooks being barbed or barbless, which do you prefer ?

 

I think most of you know I prefer hooks of the barbed variety all be it micro or small barb's rather than hooks with bloody big crumpin barb's.... sayin that I don't know if there are any hooks with large barbs these days unless there designed to catch fish for the table.

[watatoad]

I only ever use barbless hooks and that's all I have ever used since I discovered you could buy them. The reason is purely so that I can unhook the fish very quickly and easily with the minimum of fuss and effort.

Edited November 23, 2010 by watatoad

[jason.p]

I prefer barbless.They're so much easier to unhook from net, jumper, trousers, shoe laces etc which I seem to catch with annoying regularity

[Steve Burke]

I use both depending on the circumstances. For instance I'll use barbless when fishing maggots on small hooks. I also use semi-barbless hooks when bait fishing for pike, purely for speed of unhooking.

 

To save time, this is what I normally post on the subject:

 

"I agree with Leon that it's horses for courses and depends on the species/circumstances. It also depends on the size and design of the hooks themselves.

 

In my experience barbless hooks tend to do less damage on unhooking (especially by inexperienced anglers), whilst barbed hooks can do more damage during striking and playing.

 

Why barbed hooks cause more damage then is often debated.

 

Some years ago I was also of the opinion that there should be no differences between barbed and barbless hooks, with for instance each penetrating equally. However, like a number of other experienced perch anglers, I found that barbless hooks were the death of some perch, a species that has vital organs near the surface. Obviously I was wrong, so what could the problem be?

 

At the time I was in the tackle trade and so talked about the matter with a hook manufacturer.

 

They pointed out that hooks often go in at an angle and thus, although the distance penetrated is the same, the point of the hook doesn't always reach that far below the surface of the skin.

 

However the angle can subsequently change, especially during the playing of the fish. A barbed hook would tend to stay in the same place and at the same angle. On the other hand a barbless one would be more likely to move and thus the angle change, with the point of the hook possibly ending up further from the surface.

 

Additionally, as barbless hooks can move about more easily, they would be more likely to pierce vital organs anyway.

 

This suggestion seemed to be a logical explanation.

 

However, whatever the reason, what to me is more important is results in the field - and these showed that barbless hooks are not the best for perch.

 

Only a tiny barb seems to be needed, and the pattern of hook I prefer for perch fishing has a miniscule one. In fact the barb on the size 6 is about the same size as a normal microbarbed size 16!

 

Having said that, the state of the mouths of some UK fish is deplorable. This is all too often the case on overfished waters where fish are caught repeatedly, especially by beginners. If I managed a commercial water (God forbid!) I might well insist on barbless hooks for this reason.

 

 

On the other hand, an increasing number of specimen waters are now banning barbed hooks.

 

At Wingham I allow a free choice on the Carp Lake as it doesn't contain perch. However the Coarse Lake does, and here I ban barbless hooks above size 10. In each case I state that I prefer microbarbs.

 

So if you want to come to the next Forum Fish-In at Wingham, you'll either have to obey the fishery rules or I'm afraid decide not to come!"

 

Anyone interested in this subject may like to do a search of past topics for "barbless".

[Dick Dastardly]

As above.

[Rusty]

I'm using barbed at the moment (changed from barbless for everything) but I'm not very comfortable with it to be honest. I swapped because of a previous thread which suggested that barbless could do more damage than barbed but I never really got to the bottom of it.

 

Assuming that the internal organs of perch are in the same place irrespective of fish location Steve's research suggests that barbless hooks from size 10 or smaller are 'safe' for perch. Does it follow then that as long as a maximum size 10 hook is being used barbless are generally better for fish welfare during hooking, playing & unhooking? Have I understood that correctly?

[Dick Dastardly]

I kind of think so Rusty.I think small hooks are better barbless in general but over 10 I prefer barbed.

[Steve Burke]

I'm using barbed at the moment (changed from barbless for everything) but I'm not very comfortable with it to be honest. I swapped because of a previous thread which suggested that barbless could do more damage than barbed but I never really got to the bottom of it.

 

Assuming that the internal organs of perch are in the same place irrespective of fish location Steve's research suggests that barbless hooks from size 10 or smaller are 'safe' for perch. Does it follow then that as long as a maximum size 10 hook is being used barbless are generally better for fish welfare during hooking, playing & unhooking? Have I understood that correctly?

 

Not quite.

 

In my experience barbed are better when hooking and playing. Barbless for unhooking. So it's all a matter of compromise.

 

What's the best compromise will depend on the circumstances, including the species/size of the fish at the venue. That dividing line of size 10 suits the Coarse Lake at Wingham, but it may not suit other waters.

[Vagabond]

We have had this discussion several times before.

 

For the benefit of newcomers, what Steve Burke says (and Budgie agrees with) is sound sense.

 

All I would add is that in addition to being easy to remove from fish, small size barbless are a darn sight easier to remove from the landing net should the fish shed the hook in the net (and they often do)

 

...and if you are clumsy, easier to remove from the nearest willow twig, your tackle bag, trousers, left ear, etc etc

[Dick Dastardly]

The big thing is as Steve says you need to select the hook for the job in hand.