Barbed and Barbless

[Royal Wulff]

Hi folks, RW here

Haven't posted in quite awhile, but I still keep up with this website on a regular basis. I can't wade a trout stream anymore but I still keep my hand in the game with panfish from warm water lakes and ponds. My favorite panfish are bluegills and here in upstate New York I have a variety of waters where I can easily fly fish for them. I still enjoy tying flies, especially the old Catskill dry and wet fly patterns I used for trout. I think they most closely simulate the type of bugs that gills feed on. Keeping a mess of gills for a meal is still a treat and a method I use to keep from injuring those I want to release is to alternately tie a barbed and then barbless fly during one of my tying sessions. That way if I"m heading out with the intention of catching a few for a meal I use the barbed fly, and if I plan on releasing everything I use the barbless fly. Works for me. Hope all my old friends on FAOL are having a great fishing season.

Good Luck, RW

[James Smith]

Royal Wulff,

It's good to have you back again. I also fish extensively for panfish, bream in particular which mainly includes bluegill and redear with some pumpkinseeds or green sunfish mixed in. Even if I'm keeping fish for dinner, not all the ones I catch will be keepers, so I only fish with barbless hooks. I don't find that there is much difference in the number of fish that get off the hook whether or not I use barbless or barbed hooks. One other benefit to barbless is that they are easier to get out submerged brush or people for that matter if things don't go as planned. I do find that bass are a bit tougher to land with barbless hooks, but I still prefer barbless for all of my freshwater fishing.


Jim

[NJTroutbum]

I fish barbless where I am required to do so.

That being said, I've never found warmwater fish to take flies as deeply as when fishing bait, so I've never really seen it as an issue.

[Linecaster]

Hook yourself and you will wish it was barbless, bass do sometimes get off but rarely bream.

[EdD]

I have found out the hard way, barbless hooks must be kept sharp or losses of fish can be substantial.

RW, Seeing your post has made my day. I'm glad to see you post again. I hope you can find a few spots on streams where you can flip a fly to trout without having to wade.


Warm regards,
Ed

[LadyFisher]

RW, terrific to see you here again! Trav & nephew Tom drove down to a regional lake near Coalstrip one day last week for bluegills and bass. They were surprised when I called the gills "gigglefish"...but I still giggle when I catch a few *S*
LF

[CoachBob]

Panfish often take a hook deep. Barbless makes all the difference in getting the hook out. Hardly ever lose fish because of barbless.

[quivira kid]

My crappie and bass flies still have barbs, but gill and trout stuff is all barbless! I take all the help I can get with crappie.

[bowfin47]

You'll hook AND land more fish with barbless...

Don't believe me?

Well, then take two hooks out of the same box and remove the barb on one. Then have buddy hold a plastic bag taunt between his hands. Then grasp each of these hooks by the eye and pull each of your hooks into/thru the plastic.

What you'll find is that the barbless hook (i.e. needle pointed hook) will "easily" go into/thru the plastic and will be easy to remove or take out of the plastic when you want, while the barbed hook (i.e. wedge shaped point) will be much more difficult to pass through the plastic.

This barbed hook will also be much harder to remove from the plastic. This will directly relate to YOUR destruction of more of YOUR flies attempting to retrieve those flies from deep inside the small mouth of a bluegill or other small-mouthed panfish.

As far as landing more fish with a barbless hook, it is simple math... If your hooking rate increases due to the "needle point" and if you occasionally lose a fish due to the lack of a barb (which will be very, very rare), then you'll still bring more fish to hand with barbless hooks! Always remember that if the barb held the fish on the hook, then you could hook a fish, put down your rod and eat sandwich and come back to find the fish still on the line... After all, the barb held the fish on.. RIGHT?

In reality with panfish, it is the pressure of the flesh against the bend of the hook that holds the fish. There are those, including myself, who argue that many times the point of the barb will actually cut more of the flesh of the fish's mouth as the fish works against the pressure of being hooked and played. As it is a "sharp cutting point" that works back and forth, cutting flesh and opening up a larger hole in the fish's mouth, the barbed hook can actually cause you to "lose" more fish! ... IMHO. Bowfin47

[Rick Z]

I try to make all my flies barbless. I may miss a few hooks.
Even get my crappie on barbless hooks.

Rick