The question keeps coming up to manage for the fish or the fisherman. I honestly believe this all depends on the water.

On rivers and lakes that are "wild" meaning natural reproduction vs. stocked, then the waterway should be managed for the fish. Barbed or barbless, I don't think makes a whole lot of difference but if barbless gives a measurable edge to the wild / naturally reproducing fish, then give them the edge.

On the other hand, we have stocked streams (ie. most tail waters). Those fish are stocked on a put - grow - take basis. They are artificial and living in an artificial environment. The dams went up and the influx of cold water killed off most of the native species for some miles downstream of the dam. In an effort to make it look like the TVA, Corps of Engineers and others cared about the environment they had just destroyed, they found ways to include oxygen back in the water, but they couldn't figure out a way to keep the cold water from changing the environment of the river systems.

They started stocking cold water fish like trout. Due to the nature of the power generation and flood control requirement of these dams, and the very fact is is an artificial environment, there is precious little to no natural reproduction. Yes some do spawn or go on redds but is there or could there ever be a naturally sustaining fish population? Maybe maybe not but with the primary concerns being flood control and power generation, let's face it, natural reproduction of fish is not high on the priority list.

That brings us back to how and why are the fish there. They are stocked (by the 10's of thousands) by the states. They are put there for fishermen to catch and keep. The fish will die and will not reproduce regardless of what we do with or to them.

In stocked water, I think the management plan should be for the fishermen, and for wild water, it should lean toward favoring fish.

Just my .02 worth.

I honestly don't give a hoot about the barbed vs. barbless thing. I use barbless mainly because they will come out of me easier and I can't honestly say I've ever lost a fish due to not having a barb on the hook.

Jeff