I went fishing in a C&R only lake in the Chicago area last evening. Had a pleasant time, caught a few gills and a bass and it was a very nice lake. I was reading the regs and it mentioned that hooks had to barbless and not stainless steel. I had seen the barbless restriction many times but it was the first time that I had seen stainless hooks banned. Just curious if anyone knows why they would ban them? Seemed odd to me that bait and treble hooks were OK as long they weren’t stainless.
Rick:
A wild guess would be the thought that stainless steel hooks wouldn’t rust out if the need arose to cut the line on a deeply hooked fish to release it.
I’m only guessing though…
This same reg, also applies to many areas and waters, here, in Oregon. A member of our fly club is an ODFW employee, (Oregon Dept.Of Wildlife/Fish & Game) and that’'s the exact reason, it’s used here, according to him… “They won’t rust away, when either released and still hooked, or, they break an angler’s line, and the hook remains in the fish”.
Check this out, I asked my inlaws neighbor who works with metals (some Dr. type)
"The basic resistance of stainless steel occurs because of its ability to form a protective coating on the metal surface. This coating is a "passive" film which resists further "oxidation" or rusting. The formation of this film is instantaneous in an oxidizing atmosphere such as air, water, or other fluids that contain oxygen. Once the layer has formed, we say that the metal has become "passivated" and the oxidation or "rusting" rate will slow down to less than 0.002" per year (0,05 mm. per year).
sdown about"
:rolleyes: