Barbless/ Cutting one shank off treble??

[marshmallow]

Have any of you's tried this consistantly?? And/or with the other Cranks Spoons Plugs.. Less injury to fish?? Easier to get out of your hand etc.. Chance of losing fish more often?? What is opinions,or experience with this.. Thank You..

[Keith_MN]

Ever since I started fishing for big northerns in Manitoba about 12 years ago I have been a big supporter of barbless hooks. Barbless hooks are much easier to remove from the fish; not to mention the occasional hand or finger.

And the number of fish lost due to pinching the barbs is a lot less than you might think. Sharper hooks, better fishing line, graphite rods, and better drag systems on reels have all reduced the need for barbs on our hooks.

About the only time I feel the need to have a barb on my hook is when there is money on the line (ie in a tournament).

[mainbutter]

spoons and spinners can all be outfitted with large single hooks to GREAT effect. There are streams I fish in Alaska that don't allow trebles, and tbh a good hookset with a large siwash hook far outperforms a treble, especially if you are fishing barbless. It's just harder for a fish to throw the bigger hook.

Fishing with crankbaits or large soft plastics, trebles are necessary for hookups, simply because when a fish bites down there's more "non hook" mass there. When a fish bites down on a spoon or inline spinner, they're pretty much guaranteed to get the hook in their mouth, there just isn't much body volume to prevent them from chomping right on the hook.

I haven't switched to barbless yet, but have been thinking about it.. sort of one of those "stuck doing what I've always done" things. I don't trust barbless trebles, a fish hooked by a single shank on a treble is the most likely to successfully throw the hook from my experience.