New Guy with a Question

[Jack Hise]

OS Dave;
Welcome aboard. Best Fly Fishing Site on the Net!!
As to barbles hooks. The barb was ment to help keep the bait on which could be why barbed hooks are so difficult to remove!!
You'll find everything you need to know about fly tying and rod building right here. Be cautous about buying a fly tying kit as some are at best poor! Check out the sponsors here after reading the fly tying archives.

[tar heel]

I think barbless hooks are a bit like training wheels. They might help you learn to keep the fish on at first, but once you learn how to land the fish properly you don't need the crutch. I'm saying this as someone who has always (and this has only been maybe seven or eight years) fished with flies having the barbs mashed down. You can land just as many fish without a barb as with, it just adds ten more minutes to the learning curve I never rode a bicycle with training wheels either, though. I guess I think it's generally better to learn it the complete way (even if it takes longer) than to learn it twice.

[OSdave]

Thanks for all the welcomes and for all the great info! I really appreciate it! I think I'm going to start trying to go barbless - it always really bothered me (as I'm sure it did the fish) when I had a difficult time pulling a barbed hook out of a fish...

Anyway, thanks again - I look forward to being here more often!

Dave

[TyroneFly]

OSdave,

Welcome aboard! I can only add to the already excellent responses is when smashing down the barb, be careful to stay clear of the point as you can damage or break it off in the process.

Be sure to visit Al Campbell's series on fly tying on the main page. It is an excellent series and the techniques you'll learn will move you forward for when you are ready to take on Ronn Lucas Atlantic Salmon Flies.

[nighthawk]

OSdave,
Welcome to the greatest fly fishing site there is! You are going to love this sport. As suggested by Ron Eagle Elk here is the place to find out what you need for tools:

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytyin ... part1.html

If you decide to get a tying kit be certain to check out our sponsors page. many of them offer very good kits and all of them will help you get what you need.

[jeffnles1]

I grabbed the hemostat and started pulling. I pulled and pulled and pulled. I couldn't believe that little barb could hold on so good. Finally I gave it a good pull and it came out with some of my finger. That hurt!. i now pinch all the barbs before putting them in my fly box.

True story.
About 20 years ago, I was bass fishing with a crank bait that had 2 sets of trebble hooks. It was a fairly large crank bait with appropriately large hooks.

I caught a bass that went about 16 inches or so. When I reached down to grab him by the lower jaw to bring him up, he shook his head and buried one side of one of the trebbles in my thumb. Yes, it went past the barb.

Now, I have a very angry bass flipping around with a crankbait in it's lip. The other end of the crank bait is in my thumb and this bass was none too happy about the situation. Every time he jerked his head, the hook went deeper. I had to grab him with the hand that had the hook in it so that I could get the other hand free to remove the hook from the bass. I managed to get the hook out of the bass and release him to the water. The bass got released unharmed. Now, I had a rather large hook buried quite deep in my thumb.

I thought about pushing it through clipping off the barb and sliding the hook out. No good, the angle put the point under my thumbnail and there was now way I was going to try that operation.

I had just gotten to the lake and like Pete, I was in no mood to end my fishing day. I did what any red blooded angler would do. I grabbed the hook with my needle nose pliers, closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and with one fell soop, removed the hook from my thumb.

Like Pete, a rather significant chunk of my thumb came out with the hook.

I went on fishing and managed to catch a bunch of fish. Fortunately, I had a first aid kit on the boat so I cleaned the wound out as good as I could (bottled water, alcohol swabs and antibiotic cream) and bandaged it up.

Fortunately, I did not get any type of infection, but I did have a very sore thumb for a few weeks and my guitar playing suffered for quite some time afterward. Didn't stop me from fishing though.

I do pinch down the barb on my flies now but I haven't done so on the crank baits or spinning equipment.

It's just one of the prices we pay for fishing. Sometimes the fisherman wins, sometimes the fish wins.

Jeff

[Wednesday Caster]

Welcome!
Went fishing for the first time this weekend in nearly 2 months. Caught plenty barbless- enough that I lost count. However, most memorable event was gettin a #14 under my fingernail! Sure glad I fished a C&R barbless section. Came out quick and easily- not too much pain either. I cringe just at the thought of how painful it would have been if there was a barb.
Go barbless-tight lines keep the fish on.

[tlerm]

Everyone else has already done a great job of explaining why to go barbless. For most flies I do buy the standard hooks and mash the barb down, but I have found that with smaller hooks, like a size 20 dry, that I prefer to buy them barbless. When you mash down the barb there is sometimes just a tiny spot that can still catch in the fishes mouth. It does not cause me problems with larger hooks, say in sizes 12 & 14. But it can still catch just a little in the fishes mouth (or the net), and still make it tricky to get out.

[okieflyfisheman]

I am in the barbless brotherhood also. I have not noticed any significant impact on my ability to land fish. I also have impaled myself with hooks on several occasions both barbed and barbless. I prefer the barbless. I would also suggest that you always wear a hat and glasses (sun or safety if you do not wear glasses) when you are fishing. A barbless hook will blind you as quickly as a barbed hook. Also carry a small pair if diagonal cutters just in case you need to clip the point of a hook that you didn't get a barb mashed completely down on.

Welcome to FAOL. You're gonna love it here.

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

Hi and Welcome to the board. Yep barbless all the way. You will find also that in more and more cases it is becomming illegal to use a barbed hook anyway. I like the fact that once you have the fish right alongside you it is possible to let it go just by lowering the rod tip and giving it a little slack. The hook will just come out and the fish can swim away without being touched at all. Doesn't always work but its neat when it does. I have had two fishing trips canceled because someone had a barbed hook buried in them and required medical attention.
Another bonus is you don't have to spend several minutes getting the hook free from the net. Barbless just slip out.

When mashing down the barbs for fly tying I find that it is wiser to do a whole batch right at the start. If you mash them after you tie the fly you will find that every once in a while a hook point will break leaving the fly you just tied usless. Its quite frustrating.

Good luck in your new hobby.

Ps. a good flyfisher can catch more fish than a good spin fisher. In my opinion.