I have always been afan of ESP Big t hooks but when forced to use them in barbless I had a succession of hook pulls. I believe that the straight point gets more bites but does it lose fish? Also would it make a difference as to the shape of the shank. Have been considering the new fox ssc hooks in barbless. Any thoughts?
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Barbless Straight Pointed hooks?
- Thread starter catman
- Start date
Macca_EFC
Member
I use barbless hooks for pretty much all of my fishing, be it for tench, carp, perch, roach etc or lure fishing for pike. The benefit it gives in unhooking a fish is hugely beneficial, yes you will occasionally lose the odd fish, but when this has been the case and I've switched over to a micro barb I've still lost fish then. If you fish waters where the fish are shy biting I'd suggest a micro barb if you feel a barbless hook would pull out too easily, I've found that in the main if you get the fish competing and taking positively barbless can't be beaten, I always try and carry a large selection of hooks giving me choice of size, bent/straight shank, barbed, barbless. I've found that so long as you don't give the fish any slack 99 times out of a 100 you should land the fish.
I think you are right. Keeping the pressure on is the key. It's just nice to have a back up should the line slacken. I think a fish would find it hard to get rid of a curved shanked hook as if it had a microbarb because of the way it would have to move to get out. Also the pressure would be concentrated in a diffetrent way to straight shanked hooks.
Macca_EFC
Member
Exactly, I do tend to prefer a curved shank for my barbless hooks as you say it's not as easy for a fish to shake them out. I really only use any kind of barb as a last resort. Barbless are kinder for the fish, quicker to unhook and more time to catch more fish also if you are unlucky and snag they tend to pull free easier. The only downside can be if you are using some baits like luncheon meat or sweetcorn on the waggler casting a distance they can come off occasionally however, I'm starting to hair rig some pop up sweetcorn which I've heard works well and smaller fish can't nibble at. Thus far I've not had these problems when fishing the pole though.
Macca_EFC
Member
Hopefully it is :0P I've not been lucky enough to catch any carp as big as that yet, although they've held for some tough fighting pike, and a some very nice crucians...let me know how you get on with your quest and if the theory held up in practice using barbless with curved shank