A debarbed hook pulls much easier from my hide. So I debarb.
Dick xfishcop
YEP I debarb all hooks, with my casting skills I need all the safety I can get.
Eric
Me too…what Eric said. I tie my own flies, so de-barb before mounting the hook in the vise. More of my inventory is now barbless hooks, too.
Squeezing barbs, yes. Using pre-made barbless hooks, no. That little bump left after flattening a barb provides enough resistance when a fish jumps, etc., to keep it hooked up, but doesn’t make it any harder to pull out of the fish or yourself.
de-barb yes. If the barb snaps when bending, I’m reasonable sure the carbon content is higher than when the barb only bends. Generally, the higher carbon content hook is a stronger one.
I believe that a de-barbed or barbless hook also aids in more hook ups. Less resistance going in or out.
Advantages to going barbless:
- Safer
- Easier to remove from fish
- More hookups
- Legal in all streams I fish
Disadvantages:
- Lose the occasional fish that I wouln’t have hooked in the first place with a barbed hook.
It’s a pretty easy choice.
I debarb as well.
Mike
I thought the barb was to help keep my ‘bit of worm’ from sliding off? Like on nymphs and things?
I try to buy barbless hooks when I can, only because I hate taking up the second or two per hook to smash the barb. All my hooks are debarbed or barbless by design.
Im not sure why they still sell fly hooks with barbs. I dont know anyone who uses them. Everyone seems to buy barbless , or like most of us , just smash it with pliers.
i bebarb after sunday fishing in high wind then had to remove a clouser from my back side combo of poor casting and wind mostly poor casting:shock:
Another benefit is less wrangling to remove a barbless hook. I ruined too many flies trying to wrassle that barb out of fish’s mouth.
I believe I read somewhere that it is harder or more expensive to produce barbless hooks ie the higher price for them.
Yes, it is. Normally, the barb is cut at the same time the wire is cut, and makes for a convenient point for the jig to grasp when forming the rest of the hook.
And as someone above stated, I prefer to debarb than to fish barbless. I usually fish two fly rigs, with the bottom fly tied to the bend of the top fly. The little bump from where the barb was keeps the knot from slipping off. It just isn’t that hard to knock the barb down before putting it in the vise.
There is also the ‘hedgehog’ problem.
I use debarbed hooks for everything except steelhead fishing. for bass and gills and stuff I pinch the barbs but steelhead are too insane and jump and run and go crazy so I keep the barb on so they don’t throw the hooks. never had a problem so far. knock on steel!
I’m with redietz on this one. I’m almost always fishing two flies and the bump on the point fly keep the leader from falling off.
Beaver
Partly because you can always take the barb off a barbed hook, but you can’t add one to a barbless one. Wider buyer demographic, even if the majority take them off. Personally, I smash them down rather than pay extra pennies for barbless.
I use and buy barbless when available. I pinch down the barbs before tying. I dont know why chemically sharpened hooks are more expensive.