Hooks

[tgruenke]

Do you guys use barbless hooks, or file down the barbs to make release easier?

[sbro73]

Bend them down with a pliers.

[not_nuf_time]

I pinch down with pliers, have done it this way for probably 6 years. I also try to get anyone I'm fishing with to do it to, just for my own unhooking reasons. Careful doing it though, make sure you have glasses on, sometimes that barb is brittle enough to snap off on the pinch, and when it does, it zings hard and fast usually don't know where it flies off to, so little caution is good idea.

[Shawn Kellett]

Depends on the hook and application. For topwaters no. For baits I use at night, often. Smaller hooks that have very little gap/bend no. Larger hooks/wide gap often.

[cbrooks]

On my double cowgirls I bend the bards down and some bucktails(ones with a trail hook) I will but thats about it. The only hook I will bend the bard down is one that a fish could potentially swallow to the point I wouldn't be able to get the knipex at.

[RK]

Hiya -

I mash down the barbs with a pliers. Some barbs fold over, others snap off altogether, which is fine. You still have a little bit of a bump there to help keep fish hooked, but it's so much easier to unhook fish - or yourself if something bad happens.

About the only baits I don't pinch barbs down on are jigs, because they're so easy to get out anyhow.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[cjac]

I've been doing some more barb "mashing" in going thru the inventory of lures.

It just makes sense from a hook up percentage (I honestly think I've lost more fish from barbs than they've helped me, take a look at a DCG hook in particular) and in light of all the delayed mortality stats being strewn around it also makes a good conservation minded statement from a C&R perspective.

If I lose a fish with a pinched barb I most likely would've lost it with a full barb too, or it was a result of OE (Operator Error) on my part and I need to look at what I did wrong, not the lure. After all, the fish ate it.... and that's 99% of the battle.

Chris

[urban cowboy]

I sharpen the tips and barbs like a razor.

I dont want to take any chances on losing a fish.

[Rebel9921]

I take a Lockjaw Visegrip Pliers to the hook and mash down the barbs... I do that everytime I bring home a new lure or replace the rings/hooks... Feel whole lot more safer that way... Like RK said, sometimes the barbs will smoosh down, sometimes it'll break off... but doesnt matter...