Another excellent article by Tom Travis.

Having said that, I've been thinking again lately about going the "pointless" hook route. Not actually removing the entire bend of the hook, but just clipping it off at the barb, leaving a blunt end to the hook

That stems from fly angling, for me, being more about the hunt than "playing" and landing fish. It certainly simplifies the catch and release thing - for an intentional long distance release just throw the fishy some slack and say bye-bye. And it certainly intensifies the challenge of landing a fish, if that becomes the goal, by requiring an extra measure of skill in keeping pressure on the fishy.

Thinking I will probably start with some "pointless" flies tomorrow and see how I like it ( assuming I find a willing fish to play along ).

John