Barbless=weedless?

[SNAGGLEPUSS]

This year i got a boat and back to lake fishing for pike. With the reguation for barbless hooks now in effect it sure makes releasing the pike a lot easier. I remember years ago catching pike and all the troubles and damage caused removing the treble hooks from their mouths. They sure come out a lot easier now. I also remember trolling for pike and always hauling in a mass of weeds with the barbed hooks. This year i found a lot less harvesting of weeds. The barbless hooks should have been mandated long ago

[fishstix]

Snagglepuss.
I also use single barbless hooks. It dosent take a doctor to see that the damage inflicted to a fish caught with a single barbless hook is less than that of a fish caught on a treble hook. I also feel that it is more sporting, and more respectful to the fish.
To me the joy of fishing isnt just yarding a fish out of the water... One prong through the bottom lip, another through his upper jaw, and the other with an eyeball hanging off it. The joy lies in the chase and presentation. The recovery and release. The river itself and the people you meet on it.