barbed or barbless hooks

[dapper64]

which hooks do most anglers prefer to use, barbed or barbless ? I tend to use barbless because they are easy to remove but I do lose a lot of fish.

[Team Man]

I lost quite a few fish when I first went on to barbless hooks (must be a good 20+ years) but you soon get used to using them, you must stay in contact with the fish all the time, any slack line and he's gone.......I couldn't go back to barbed hooks now, No way, the ease of unhookng is worth it, particularly with Perch

Edited March 26, 2007 by Team Man

[Neil G]

I use a single semi barbed treble for most of my piking (barbed one goes into bait)....can still get barbed end in fish though when using soft baits like sardine & smelt as the hook pulls clear easily.

[Kappa]

I use a single semi barbed treble for most of my piking (barbed one goes into bait)....can still get barbed end in fish though when using soft baits like sardine & smelt as the hook pulls clear easily.

 

I use barbless hooks for most of my fishing, except for perch.

 

Rich

[corydoras]

I lost quite a few fish when I first went on to barbless hooks (must be a good 20+ years) but you soon get used to using them, you must stay in contact with the fish all the time, any slack line and he's gone.......I couldn't go back to barbed hooks now, No way, the ease of unhookng is worth it, particularly with Perch

It's because of the silly wee hooks that you English anglers use for fishing. When I was a nipper I used to fish for perch on loch lomond when the trout were not biting. Not knowing any better I just used the same size 6 or 8 barbed hooks that I used for trout. When I moved down to england later in life I could'nt believe the daft wee dolls house hooks (like size 14 and even smaller) that they sold in tackle shops. Having said that, these days I only fish for thick lipped grey mullet with barbless hooks. Never go down to anything smaller than a size 10 though.

[Peter Sharpe]

Ahh, the old barbed/barbless hook debate again. It must be the close season

[corydoras]

Ahh, the old barbed/barbless hook debate again. It must be the close season

[wanzelbin]

I only use barbed for worms - otherwise I'm worried they'll wriggle off the hook!

[jimmyh]

I like to crush my barbs with pliers/nail clippers (depending on the size of the hook). I dont lose as many fish and the hook comes out relatively easily.

 

Jimmy

[Team Man]

I only use barbed for worms - otherwise I'm worried they'll wriggle off the hook!

 

 

That is the one drawback with the barbless hook....... But, I think the only one, in my opinion

 

 

PS

Talking to a tackle dealer the other day about this very subject he reckoned that the barbless was responsible for most of the lip damage today, I couldn't quite see his theory.

Edited March 27, 2007 by Team Man