hooks

what are your views on hooks. i prefer micro or barbed. i know there are many discussions about which causes the most damage but i believe that barbless can cause every bit as much damage as barbed if not more.

I personaly buy and use barbless. If I need a particular type of hook that only comes with a barb/micro barb, I squash it down.

Reason being,

Firstly, barbless is far better for the fish when unhooking in fact I very rarely have to unhook the fish myself, once in the landing net the hook is normaly out as soon as I release the presure

And secondly it can make it more of a challenge to hook and land a fish, And I do like a challenge!

if you use barbed hooks mor then the fish will learn more about your hook being next to a bait .

Think of it like this

you get stabed with a small pin and it doesnt hurt much

and then you get stabbed with a pin with the end bent round

its going to hurt a lot more is its barbed.

the moral of the story is " if you dont want to hurt the fish in anyway use barbless hooks"

Barbless hooks every time. Early days I had to squash the barb down. All my fishing is done with barbless hooks, Fly, Pike etc.

I do believe in the cheese wire effect, but this happens with all hooks. I don't believe the barb stops the fish from rolling on the hook. I think the barbs cuts into the fish creating a second cut next to the hook itself, hence a double tear and more damage.

I have been using barbless for ages for much of the reasons given above. If you don't let your line go slack when playing a fishI don't think you are going to loose any more fish.

However, I have booked a trip to France next year and barbless hooks are banned! The reason given is that although a barb causes a larger entry/exit wound (which must be treated with oinkment), the barb stops the hook moving around deeper in the flesh in a cutting motion, so causes less damage overall.

I think I will be staying with barbless until convinced otherwise...

I think alot of people who use barbed hooks will not say due to all the defence of barbless hooks being less harmful etc... i dont think many people will want to come across as the sort that would harm the fish more than was neccesary sothey mayremain quiet.

That said, if im Tench fishing and its a very weedy swim i will 100% have no problems using micro barbed hooks, ive lost Tench in the weeds more times than id like, i know Sywell bans barbed hooks but some waters do not and on those waters it can pay to use barbed or micro barbedhooks, more fish on the banks etc especially on some tough waters where runs are rare, i dont want to lose my only run ofr days due to a Tench shedding the hook in the weed.

If i am fishing a small lake with plenty of silvers in it then its barbless all the way, i dont care so muchif i lose a couple of Roach but i dont want that certainpersonal bestBream or Tench falling off, which yes i know wont happen in the correct situation but its never all as simple as that.

I have caught Carp on barbless hooks where the hook has appeared to move around and caused a tear, but this could just be that the fish had already been caught recently by someone else and not related to the barbless hook i was using.

So to answer the question...

I would use all/any hooks that i felt were needed for the job in hand, i own maybe a 50/50 mix of barbed/barbless... its all situational.

Barbless and it is the way I will stay unless someone can come up with anything other than purely anecdotal evidence to show that barbed is somehow better for the fish rather than the fisher.

I've heard anglers saying that for larger fish a Barbed hook actually prevents the damage by reducing movement of the point while playing a big fish; but I have used 'Barbless only' for many years and I havent seen this damage that they are talking about on Carp or Barbel. so it's Barbless all the way for me too.

I sometimes use a barbed hook but I pinch the Barbs right down leaving a small bump.

whatever happened to those PinchBarb hooks that we could buy; which just had a harmless bump where the barb used to be?

Barbless for me too,I've never experienced movement of the hook.

Keep in full contact with the fish at all times,far easier to unhook the fish,in fact it often comes out in the landing net.

P&PH

<u>FISH DON'T FEEL PAIN </u>

What did we all use before barbless hooks came on the market ?

I use both sorts, that way if im fishing a venue where the rules state barbless then im prepared.

what did we use before un hooking mats came on the market ?

what did we use before spods ?

Progress is there to give us a choice......

What did people do before pain killers? answer just suffer. does that mean we should suffer?

But in these days of fish welfare awareness and increased knowledge of deseases I would err on the side of caution. I know that fish can't feel pain but after seeing some people ripping at fishes mouths and throats in the past I would vote for a ban on barbs if ever it came to one.

Perch hunter says "the moral of the story is "if you dont want to hurt the fish in anyway use barbless hooks""

Sorry, but that's largely tosh. There's little evidence to suggest that either barbed or barbless causes the most harm. What does cause harm is careless untrained anglers playing fish and removing hooks.

As much harm can be done to a fish hauling it through the water with a barbless hook as can someone carelessly unhooking a fish with a barbed hook.

There are situation where a barbed hook is a must although my main preference nowadays is to use barbless all the time or at the very least - crushed barbs. In fact, if someone could make a hook with a lump on it resembling a crushed barb then that would prove the best of both worlds. It's expensive to do it right hence no-one has as yet bothered or succeeded with them.

Playing a fish is a skill I rarely see practised these days and some experts unhooking techniques leave a lot to be desired. So whatever you use, learn to use it well if you don't want to cause the fish harm, but let's not criticise one style of hook over the other as if that's the only cause.

I agree with Woody that poor handling and technique has a far greater bearing on damage to fish than on whether the hook has a barb or not. My personal preference is for barbed but I use barbless if the fishery stipulates their use.

Look, I didn't wish to seem derogatory about Perch Fisher's comments, but several times I have examined fish from a number of venues and found arguments for and against barbed and barbless hooks. I wrote a piece on it, go about halfway down.

Now this particular type of injury

is caused by ripping fish through the water and NOT by fishing with barbed hooks. I know because the water doesn't allow barbed hooks and everyone supports that. This next picture is of a cleanly hooked fish




and it wouldn't have mattered if the had been a barbed hook as I would have removed it the same way as it went in and wouldn't wiggle it about as some anglers do. Get a pair of forceps around the shank and take it straight down and out.

I'm visiting a water tomorrow where <u>barbed hooks are banned</u>. We'll see how many fish have damaged mouths.

I use barbed on all of my fishing except when piking , two trebles plus bony mouth , plus net = barb-less .

Depends entirely what I'm fishing for and where.

I'm happy to say I use barbed hooks, usually piched down a little.

I agree with Mr Meldrew and remember his article about this which was a fount of common sense.

(£10.00 please /forum/smilies/smile_smiley.gif)

I use barbless if I'm targetting smaller fish like roach, basically if I'm using hooks smaller than say a size 12 or 14,I just find it easier and quicker to unhook them.

If I'm fishing for bigger fish (although not pike for the same reason Les stated) I'll use barbed where allowed with no concerns, I have never seen my barbed hook rigs cause any more or less damage than my barbless ones.