Barbless is B.S.!!!

[Hooked07]

So far this year I have personally lost over 50% of fish due to barbless through the ice and I'm damn sick of it!!! This whole mortalilty issue is for the birds, I don't recall seeing dead fish floating everywhere when barbs were legal so what gives? Common scenario this winter; fish all day for Lakers and finally get a hit, bring'em up to the hole and bam he spits it out. Yes, my hooks are sharp and yes I think I will be going back to good 'ol barbs with my snippers in my pocket at the ready, damn, I just lost my hook sir?!:evilgrin:

[DLP]

Yes, my hooks are sharp and yes I think I will be going back to good 'ol barbs with my snippers in my pocket at the ready, damn, I just lost my hook sir?!:evilgrin:

So...what you are saying is your going back to breaking the law. If this doesn't work for you I heard net's are working good for guy's:lol:

[TangoKilo]

Ill be honest with you Hooked,

I have not noticed any significant difference in the numbers of fish lost between barbed and barbless hooks.

The Key I find is to keep your line tight. Any slack and your fish is gone.

[Ken07AOVette]

It should only cost you $200 per fish I guess.

[buckstop]

Controlled fisheries that require catch and release slots and limits usually accompany barbless regulations. It only makes sense. Delayed mortality due to fish hooked deep on both bait and artificial lures is MUCH HIGHER with barbs. Stats prove it, you cant argue the facts.

Losing fish when using barbless hooks is an excellent indicator of the capabilities of the angler. Give em slack and you lose fish.

[whitetailhntr]

I like barbless hooks my self. Beats the heck outta fighting with barbed ones when trying to unhook fish.I lose very few fish as well.

Pretty sure posting your intent to break the law on a public board is not very smart...just sayin!:wave:

[CountryRoadz]

A couple of years ago my buddies kid was removing a barbless hook from a fish and it ended up embeded in his hand. Good thing it was barbless.

I remember the days when barbs were legal and how much of a pain in the A** it was to remove the hook. There was mpore bloodshed then.

I understand the frustration of losing a fish but I have to agree with the tight line phylosophy which I have found to be a little tougher on the tip up. I lose more fish on the tip up than my rod.

Good Luck

CR

[lifesaflyin]

even if barbed hooks were legal in alberta i would probly still tie my flies on barbless hooks. I did not notice a difference between them.

soon as somebody looses a fish they always blame barbless but I witnessed a trout this year take my dry fly in the air and twist a barbless off the quicksnap on my tippet and took my last hook for the hatch. so who do I blame that on?

if you give them slack they are goin back. so keep a tight line.

[deanmc]

I agree with most. If you are careful and keep line tight you will not lose many more fish. I guess you do not realize that they sometimes carry underwater camera's? Cutting the line is not as tricky as you think. I think you should give up fishing not just barbless hooks. You seem to think it should be "catching".

[Walleyes]

Ooooh this is going to be a good one..

[mikelikefish]

use the mustad slow death hooks

[burbotman14]

I am thankful for barbless hooks. If we didn't use barbless hooks some of the whitefish that I released that sucked the hooks deep would have been killed. Like it is said before keep the line tight and take it slow to get a big fish in and you will get most of them.

[Ken07AOVette]

Just have a spring loaded gaff ready if you see them near the hole.

Or, use your handgun and shoot them thru the hole, even if you miss, the concussion will slow them down long enough to get them out by hand.

**disclaimer**
(this reply was meant as a joke, do not touch a fish in the hole with your bare hands if it is off the line)

[sdimedru]

I like barbless hooks my self. Beats the heck outta fighting with barbed ones when trying to unhook fish.I lose very few fish as well.



x2, couldn't agree with you more

[Walleyes]

When a fish takes one of my lure deep in the throat I just cut the line and let it go. Barbeless or not if you start ripping around in there there is going to be damage.

[Commander B]

I agree barbless is the way to go, both in fish mortality and ease of release!!!!! I have experimented with replacing any where u would use a single J hook (ie buckshot spoon,drop shot rig, or even a baited snell) with a barbless circle hook and have had great sucess. With the large open c design there is no way they are gettin off. Just remember to reel to set the hook vs an agressive hook set.

[CountryRoadz]

I have the answer for your barbless hook concern. Strap on an underwater grenade to your leader with your bait about 6 inches up. When the fish bites KABOOM and he floats to the top of your hole.

I would suggest using cotton gloves to remove the fish so as not to cause any further harm.

It totally screws up the catch and release concept and you will likely be fined for exceeding your limit and keeping undersized fish but hey...your barbless concerns are cured.

Please be advised that this is not to be performed without the supervision of an adult and is intended for Hooked07 only.

CR

[Ken07AOVette]

I have the answer for your barbless hook concern. Strap on an underwater grenade to your leader with your bait about 6 inches up. When the fish bites KABOOM and he floats to the top of your hole.

I would suggest using cotton gloves to remove the fish so as not to cause any further harm.

It totally screws up the catch and release concept and you will likely be fined for exceeding your limit and keeping undersized fish but hey...your barbless concerns are cured.

Please be advised that this is not to be performed without the supervision of an adult and is intended for Hooked07 only.

CR

"you may also have a slight ringing in your ears, but fortunately you will not be anywhere near them" :lol:

[Hooked07]

For all you guys that are offering me fishing advice, tight lines? No sh** really?! I'm gonna try that next time I'm out, hope it works. :rolleye2:

[pikester]

Several years ago I got a barbed #6 streamer hook BURIED under my thumbnail:cry: I will save you the expletives that were used that day but still remember the pain, & I'm sure everyone within 10 miles heard me scream as I tore it out. I don't even care about the regs, I NEVER used a barbed hook again after that incident.

[whitetail Junkie]

So far this year I have personally lost over 50% of fish due to barbless through the ice and I'm damn sick of it!!! This whole mortalilty issue is for the birds, I don't recall seeing dead fish floating everywhere when barbs were legal so what gives? Common scenario this winter; fish all day for Lakers and finally get a hit, bring'em up to the hole and bam he spits it out. Yes, my hooks are sharp and yes I think I will be going back to good 'ol barbs with my snippers in my pocket at the ready, damn, I just lost my hook sir?!:evilgrin:

Dont pinch the barbs then.:evilgrin:

[deanmc]

For all you guys that are offering me fishing advice, tight lines? No sh** really?! I'm gonna try that next time I'm out, hope it works. :rolleye2:

Well it should with barbed hooks! :tongue2:

[Ken07AOVette]

plus, if you are going to used barbed hooks, no need t bother getting a fishing license, think of the money you will save

**disclaimer**

ah, you know. :D

[graham1]

The only thing that really ticks me off about barbless hooks is that kids have to use them as well. I'm fine with keeping a tight line but I figure if your young enough to fish without a liscence you should be able to use barbs. My kids lose interest pretty fast when they see fish after fish spit the hooks out just when they get them to the surface.

[Wulfespirit]

Definately a lower bite/catch ratio on tipups and bobber fishing since going barbless. Not much different on jigging/casting with rod in hand. With that said, I don't mind fishing barbless due to the ease of releasing fish.

[Fishfinder]

So far this year I have personally lost over 50% of fish due to barbless through the ice and I'm damn sick of it!!! This whole mortalilty issue is for the birds, I don't recall seeing dead fish floating everywhere when barbs were legal so what gives? Common scenario this winter; fish all day for Lakers and finally get a hit, bring'em up to the hole and bam he spits it out. Yes, my hooks are sharp and yes I think I will be going back to good 'ol barbs with my snippers in my pocket at the ready, damn, I just lost my hook sir?!:evilgrin:

U could try this: Hook urself through the tongue or deep inside ur throat with a barbless hook....yank out....let heal....then try the same with a barbed hook (make sure to get er all the way through and deep)...yank out....let heal....then tell us the results...if u can still talk?:D
This is an open n shut case for me. Barbed hooks do damage. The reason u don't see fish floating from this is bcuz they become defenseless in the water and simply become prey to bigger fish thus makin them an easy meal. Another reason u don't see fish floating from this is bcuz barbless is a darn good law, and i like to think, and have seen, most people follow it. Don't join the darkside young Skywalker, remain barbless, for fish sakes:lol::wave:

[DLP]

Hooked you may be on to something here after some serious pondering and consideration to fish lost in the past...this season I'm going to put the barbed/barbless hook to a test. I will fish with barbed hooks for 2 months and barbless for 2 months. I will report back catch vs release rates as well as mortality rates. I will post stat's on AO for all to make up there own mind barbed or barbless.

[Goater]

Hooked07 --when you say 50% how many fish are you talking about?

[ESOXangler]

i personally feel barbless hooks add more to the sport. theres a challenge there, and that feeling of excitement that you just might lose the fish. when you got something big on the line it'll give you more of a rush(for me anyways). But that is probably only true if you treat fishing like a sport and your not doing it to feed your starving family.

Another thing thou is you gotta watch the lakers they can be pretty slippery. Barbed or not theres been times where they'll side bite the bait and carry it, or even put up a good fight and then just spit the hook. Just saying you might not of properly hooked the fish anyways. Try letting them take some line before you set in to them. it might work!! no guarantee thou cause it is fishing.

[buckstop]

well hooked07, if you dont need the advice to keep your line tight, then your really arent loosing that many fish.........

[WayneChristie]

fish for pike, they are too stubborn to let go of the hook most of the time even if they arent hooked :evilgrin:

[CountryRoadz]

[QUOTE=ESOXangler;494457]i personally feel barbless hooks add more to the sport. theres a challenge there, and that feeling of excitement that you just might lose the fish. when you got something big on the line it'll give you more of a rush(for me anyways). But that is probably only true if you treat fishing like a sport and your not doing it to feed your starving family.


Sport Fishing. Is that not what we are all doing? Good post angler


CR

[Hooked07]

Well this past weekend me and the boy hooked up 8 Lakers in total. Pulled two through the ice and the boy lost both of his hookups. Bringing up a 10lb laker from 60-80ft is hard for him at 8 yrs old never mind keeping the line slack free. It upset him losing them fish after finally getting a hookup which put me on this rant so...

[whitetail Junkie]

Well this past weekend me and the boy hooked up 8 Lakers in total. Pulled two through the ice and the boy lost both of his hookups. Bringing up a 10lb laker from 60-80ft is hard for him at 8 yrs old never mind keeping the line slack free. It upset him losing them fish after finally getting a hookup which put me on this rant so...

Dont pinch the barbs next time.Alot of guys dont pinch them.I personaly always pinch my barbs when i'm fishing for trout in a creek or river.But when fishing a lake;)

[deanmc]

Well this past weekend me and the boy hooked up 8 Lakers in total. Pulled two through the ice and the boy lost both of his hookups. Bringing up a 10lb laker from 60-80ft is hard for him at 8 yrs old never mind keeping the line slack free. It upset him losing them fish after finally getting a hookup which put me on this rant so...

Most kids learn right and wrong as well as acceptable ways to react to situations from their parents.

BTW I have 2 boys. A 6 and a 3 year old so I can relate to your frustration when your boy is upset. I don't believe that mitigates the necessity to teach them right from wrong. ALWAYS.

[Fishfinder]

Clearly you and your kid are special so you guys should have special rules. Dont bother to teach him to enjoy the outdoors or time with his dad teach him to cheat and break the law that will help out later when he is driving around a trailer park with a rum in coke in hand looking to score the big dirty.

Hey no need to drag Julian into this Ricky:lol: He's a gr8 guy from what i know. Met and parteeeed a bit with the TPBoyz this summer:lol: Once i figure out how to post pics, got a gooder for u all:) Actually...I have several:lol:
But seriously, barbed...cmon Hooked07. That is very poor parental skills...perhaps this should be on another forum...based on Ethics?

[Crossfire]

i like barbless hooks it teaches you not to make mistakes when bringing up fish i even fish barbless in saskatchewan where you can legally use barbs it takes more skill to bring em in just keep the line tight.

[Hooked07]

C'mon really? Where did I say I used a barbed hooked when fishing with the boy??? I said we lost 50% of the fish due to the "barbless"?! Good thing computers are so user friendly these days.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

Well this past weekend me and the boy hooked up 8 Lakers in total. Pulled two through the ice and the boy lost both of his hookups. Bringing up a 10lb laker from 60-80ft is hard for him at 8 yrs old never mind keeping the line slack free. It upset him losing them fish after finally getting a hookup which put me on this rant so...

Hooked , I could careless what your going to do . From the sounds of it might be other factors in your loss of fish rather then the hook . Maybe a stiffer rod , with a bait caster for your son would be the answer . Of course im not telling you what to do . Ive seen lots of people fishing 10 feet beside me losing fish , telling me that I must be fishing with Barbs , when in fact I dont . I press those bad boys right to the Shaft of the hook .

The key is a good hook , set and proper and Equipment , Sharp hooks . If your hooks are dull your not gonna get good hook placement . Maybe a higher lb line and Bait caster would be your answer .

Of course your going to lose fish with out that Barb on your hook , but its not going to be 50 % less . Try some of these tactics , and hopefully you land more fish , feel free to Send me a pm I have a few other tricks that might help you out aswell .

Bring your son into this world as a Law Abiding citizen , and Good Outdoorsmen , instead of a Sketchy , Criminal . Not to mention a lovely fine from Fish and Wildlife would suck way more then losing a few fish . We are all fishermen , not Catchermen . There's days Ill catch 400 fish , and there's day Ill catch 2 fish . Its not about catching all the fish or biggest , its about being out there with your kid . Tight lines be safe and good fishing .

[billycap]

Well i think barbs are great, but i hate $200 fines... unless your fishing at obed i think adults should have to pinch..
but as for children... if your young enough to not need a licence than you should be able to use barbs...
Lots of harsh people here..

[Fishfinder]

C'mon really? Where did I say I used a barbed hooked when fishing with the boy??? I said we lost 50% of the fish due to the "barbless"?! Good thing computers are so user friendly these days.

Cmon really? After all the good suggestions on here u still gonna be a Barbie doll? Do whatever u want as I am sure u will. Sometimes u win out there, sometimes u lose. All part of the game....it's called fishing...remember? Barb it up all u want, ur only cheatin urself...n killin fish along the way. Yes it can be frustrating when one loses a fish, but no need to go to harsh tactics. Jus keep trying:wave:

[cribfisher]

I have not used barbs in probably 15 years or more.Back then me and a couple of friends kept track of fish caught with and without barbs and found that we lost a lot more on hooks WITH the barbs stil on. We came to the conclusion that with the barb the hook is about twice as thick and on hookset the barbless hooks much more easily penetrated fully and the barbed hooks were not seting passed the barb so the fish was only hooked by the tip only. The larger the hook the more apparent this was.

[addicted]

For all you guys that are offering me fishing advice, tight lines? No sh** really?! I'm gonna try that next time I'm out, hope it works. :rolleye2:

This is all part of FISHING other wise they would call it CATCHING you win some you loose 50% in your case tighten up your line and that should tighten up your stats:evilgrin:

[Shmag]

My advice to you is to take your boy into shallow water and target walleye/pike, i am sure he would have much more fun. 60-80 ft is a long way up to bring a fish no matter what your expereince is. At 8 yrs old a fish is a fish, doesn't matter what the species is.

I have a 5yr old, that can handle a rod pretty good for his age. I tried taking him perch fishing and pretty much the same thing happened as you. 20ft of water and 10-15 ft up he would lose it. He was discouraged and not having much fun and cuts into my time by time i get him set up again. If he comes out with me now we just target walleye and he has a blast. If i am out solo i will try my luck at perch.

Just gotta adapt to the changes, good luck!!!

[Fisherpeak]

Move to B.C.,you can yse barbed TREBLE hooks in most lakes.:D

[Bill L]

I have been using barbless hooks for more than 25 years and fishing for 50+ and do not think that using barbless looses more fish. I went barbless when i started taking my kids out fishing because they are a lot easier to remove from clothing and fingers ect. My kids caught lots of fish over the years with no problem.:)

[Crusty]

I've been float fishing (someone said you lose more fish this way) for chinooks for 16 years with b/less hooks. 2/0 - 5/0. Try getting those to the boat. Trout and salmon break water, tail dance, twist and turn like crazy. Set your drag properly and keep the line as tight as possible and hang on. What a blast! I do think it's bs that a barbed hook won't penetrate like a b/less. Cmon, there's a lot of pressure put on there. I would say because of the way the fight we probably lose 1/3 because of barbless. I don't really care though for me it's the challenge not how many are in the boat. Enough of the whining and some of the ignorant suggestions, have fun man, that's the ticket!

[DarkAisling]

Personally, I haven't lost many fish due to barbless hooks. Perch are the only species I've lost so far, and that was because I wasn't quick enough. Even my loss rate with those was only around 25%.

I sure appreciate the ease with which they're released when fishing barbless.

While I can appreciate what you're saying about your young man's troubles (I have two boys of my own: a teen and a toddler) , I think BBJ has made some really good suggestions for you with regards to gear changes that you can implement. I've just picked up a couple of baitcast reels for our ice fishing equipment. After seeing them in use on the ice, I think they're the perfect tool for the application.

I had some other things to say, and while I might not have used the exact words that BBJ did . . . read the last paragraph of his post again. He makes some good, and valid, points.

It can be tempting to take the easy way out and break the rules, but working through the rough patch will impart a valuable lesson (and hopefully a great sense of accomplishment for your young man). Some children are more resilient and driven than others, but heaping loads of praise on him ("You got a laker all the way to the hole! Good for you!") instead of focusing on the negative ("Shucks, lost another one") might help a bit. :)

You might like to try quick-strike rigs for your little guy. Also, a fish TV might be a fun tool for him to use (if you're not already using one) and deflect his attention away from a lost fish and onto something else.

[The Elkster]

I believe hook size and type is a way bigger influence on mortality than barbs. Fish too big a hook on small fish and you hit the eye socket or head a large percentage of the time. Use too small a hook on big fish and they suck that thing way down the gullet. In some cases the fish are sucking in the single hooks deep while a properly sized treble stays near the lips. Trebles and singles of varying sizes all have their uses in certain situations based on size of fish and the agression of the bite. We use to use tiny barbed trebles with live herring rigs out on the coast for big salmon. Never an issue with bad hooking (the hook just wasn't big enough to penetrate anything major) and man did those things hang on surprisingly well. I had far more issues with the spoons and plugs with the large single hooks on them.

...wonder how many fish have been speared in the head by a big barbless single hook such as a big streamer.

Sorry for the sidetrack but my though was perhaps you should try small barbless trebles if you haven't already. You may find the smaller hooks have more holding ability once in. Good luck

[fishstix]

So far this year I have personally lost over 50% of fish due to barbless through the ice and I'm damn sick of it!!! This whole mortalilty issue is for the birds, I don't recall seeing dead fish floating everywhere when barbs were legal so what gives? Common scenario this winter; fish all day for Lakers and finally get a hit, bring'em up to the hole and bam he spits it out. Yes, my hooks are sharp and yes I think I will be going back to good 'ol barbs with my snippers in my pocket at the ready, damn, I just lost my hook sir?!:evilgrin:

Hi hooked 07
If your line ends up "broken " just as the c.o. shows up you'll get a failure to produce ticket, and when the officer looks at your line and realizes that it has been cut he may go all bad cop on you. Either way you'll be getting a ticket.
One big thing to remember when you're out fishing is that you dont always net the fish you have on. Often times the fish gets off.
Cast again.

Happy fishing!!
Fishstix!!

[mooseknuckle]

So far this year I have personally lost over 50% of fish due to barbless through the ice and I'm damn sick of it!!! This whole mortalilty issue is for the birds, I don't recall seeing dead fish floating everywhere when barbs were legal so what gives? Common scenario this winter; fish all day for Lakers and finally get a hit, bring'em up to the hole and bam he spits it out. Yes, my hooks are sharp and yes I think I will be going back to good 'ol barbs with my snippers in my pocket at the ready, damn, I just lost my hook sir?!:evilgrin:

:cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry: It's fishing who hasn't had days where they've lost several fish?

[RedFisher]

The only thing that really ticks me off about barbless hooks is that kids have to use them as well. I'm fine with keeping a tight line but I figure if your young enough to fish without a liscence you should be able to use barbs. My kids lose interest pretty fast when they see fish after fish spit the hooks out just when they get them to the surface.

soo true!! i personally havent had any worse luck with barbless but i do have another complaint with it.. with tip up's and keeping bait on the hook... personally from time to time i do forget to crimp a new hook and somtimes even after pulling it in and seeing it i dont crimp it but if im going for C&R or a lake where to get a legal size fish is rare i do crimp..

[dezmo]

minnows and leaches wen you're jigin they always come off, barbless hooks suck. catching fish no problem, loosing bait always a problem...:mad3::mad2::mad3::mad2::mad3::mad2:

[Rob Miskosky]

I would hope that Hooked07 is being facetious and not serious. At any rate, insults will not be tolerated between forum users, which is clearly against forum rules. If it continues the thread will be shut down.

[goatskin]

I have often wondered why the provincial government has not put a stop to the commercial importation of barb-less hooks into Alberta. It would be a simple matter at the manufacturing level to use an alternate (barb-less) hook for shipments bound to jurisdictions with such requirements. Making barbed hooks less available to the casual angler would significantly reduce their use in Alberta.
Any individual going through the trouble of bringing in specialized hooks probably is already on the barb-less bandwagon.

[CountryRoadz]

I would hope that Hooked07 is being facetious and not serious. At any rate, insults will not be tolerated between forum users, which is clearly against forum rules. If it continues the thread will be shut down.


I hate to say it but with a topic like this and the history of posts regarding it, I would say its pretty clear the comments are not going to get any better.

On a personal note before this thread gets deleted I have to question why I got crapped on via a personal message from a moderator for using an acronym with the letters tfw (not in that order) in the body of a post which was not used in a negative comment and this thread has gone on this long with a questionable acronym in the title. :mad2:


:mad3: Im going fishing


CR

[Rob Miskosky]

On a personal note before this thread gets deleted I have to question why I got crapped on via a personal message from a moderator for using an acronym with the letters tfw (not in that order) in the body of a post which was not used in a negative comment and this thread has gone on this long with a questionable acronym in the title. :mad2:

Maybe you should ask the mod via PM instead of wasting bandwidth here?

[#1Magpie]

Hi Folks,

I'm new to this forum,and like too say I've enjoyed reading the post's here for about 6 monthes. Now over this time I've seen post's like this one and I know where people are coming from! I too have been checked out on the lakes for barbed hooks, Now I'm the type of person who trys to the best of my abillity to play by the rules, but when things don't add up I'll reserch!!! Now I called F&W and asked them about the barbless hook deal. I was told that there is no offical test NO line test and NO Q-tip test of any kind for the F&W officers too use. They are looking to see that you have pintched your barbs to the best of your abillaty. If they are not satisfied they will "educate" you. Good enough for me. Now I have had differance of oppinions with C.O.'s on this and a few other things such as.
The F&W officer told me if there is ever an issue like this that I should call them right then and there, as Fish and wild life officers are the athority on any matters like this one.

Hopefully this helps, I don't want to knock the C.O's but it seems they are read from a different rule book than the one we are expected to play from.

[albertadeer]

i just call it a quick release when the fish gets off....saves me trouble of work... yup the good old Bob izumi quick release.

[valve god]

Yes I have lost more fish because of barbless hooks BUT I have adapted and changed the way I fish. It can be a little more challenging but personlly I love the challenge:cool: I have lost big fish barbed and barbless:mad2: Yes it sucks that you have to re-bait all the time but that is the name of the game.
My tip-ups don't work the same they did when I run barbed hooks but I have adapted. I built a system using my casting rod that sets the hook and keeps tension on the line until I can get to :) again I adapted. The laws are always changing when it comes to fishing and hunting so, when they change we have to adapt.
There is so much we all can learn from this site by exchanging tips and ideas instead of insults:wave:
But this is just my opinon:rolleye2:

[CountryRoadz]

Hi Folks,

I'm new to this forum,and like too say I've enjoyed reading the post's here for about 6 monthes. Now over this time I've seen post's like this one and I know where people are coming from! I too have been checked out on the lakes for barbed hooks, Now I'm the type of person who trys to the best of my abillity to play by the rules, but when things don't add up I'll reserch!!! Now I called F&W and asked them about the barbless hook deal. I was told that there is no offical test NO line test and NO Q-tip test of any kind for the F&W officers too use. They are looking to see that you have pintched your barbs to the best of your abillaty. If they are not satisfied they will "educate" you. Good enough for me. Now I have had differance of oppinions with C.O.'s on this and a few other things such as.
The F&W officer told me if there is ever an issue like this that I should call them right then and there, as Fish and wild life officers are the athority on any matters like this one.

Hopefully this helps, I don't want to knock the C.O's but it seems they are read from a different rule book than the one we are expected to play from.

Good post.

Reading from a different rule book than the one we are expected to play from is way to common in other areas as well.:mad3:

I assume the barb is designed by the manufacturer with the intent to help prevent the hook from slipping back out of the fishes mouth once it has protruded through. Theoretically more fish may stay on with the barb however it is likely to do more damage even during the removal of the hook which I can attest to from the barb permitted days.

Regulations have been put in place to remove barbs (Simple concept to understand) to reduce injury to fish that are caught which in turn would increase the likelyhood of more fish being released.

End result more fish for us to catch.

I know BLAGH BLAGH BLAGH.

Bottom Line follow the rules....No Barbs and No bad Acronyms


CR

[mooseknuckle]

Yes I have lost more fish because of barbless hooks BUT I have adapted and changed the way I fish. It can be a little more challenging but personlly I love the challenge:cool: I have lost big fish barbed and barbless:mad2: Yes it sucks that you have to re-bait all the time but that is the name of the game.
My tip-ups don't work the same they did when I run barbed hooks but I have adapted. I built a system using my casting rod that sets the hook and keeps tension on the line until I can get to :) again I adapted. The laws are always changing when it comes to fishing and hunting so, when they change we have to adapt.
There is so much we all can learn from this site by exchanging tips and ideas instead of insults:wave:
But this is just my opinon:rolleye2:

I'm picking up what your putting down. Good Post. I just get frustrated when someone is just whining over something like this issue of barb's/no-barbs. It's a sport right? Hey my son had a goal called back because of an off-side at his hockey game the other night.... but you won't here me crying saying there shouldn't be off-side's!!?? Rules are Rules play by them or go home I say.:wave:

[Rockymtnx]

So far this year I have personally lost over 50% of fish due to barbless through the ice and I'm damn sick of it!!!
At first I was a little skeptical of going barbless. Now after doing it for several years, I am 100% for it.
As for losing 50% of your fish, that’s the operator not the equipment. You have to learn to fish with barbless hooks. I land as many fish with barbless hooks as I did with barbed hooks. Last year alone I landed over 2000 fish. I would say that my loss was less than 3%.
Oh yeah when you stick a hook in your jacket or something else it sure is a h&ll of a lot easier to get out compared to a barbed hook.

This whole mortalilty issue is for the birds, I don't recall seeing dead fish floating everywhere when barbs were legal so what gives?
As for the mortality thing being for the birds give this a try.
- Take two identical hooks.
- Pinch or remove the barbs on one hook.
- Stick the barbed hook ¼ inch into your right thumb and then pull it out.
- Stick the barbless hook ¼ inch into your left thumb and then pull it out.
- Tomorrow tell us which one you though felt better coming out.

I will be going back to good 'ol barbs with my snippers in my pocket at the ready, damn, I just lost my hook sir?!:evilgrin:
Oh yes that’s the mature responsible thing to do. Good on ya!

Rules are Rules play by them or go home I say.:wave:
X2

[jacob1202]

I'm picking up what your putting down. Good Post. I just get frustrated when someone is just whining over something like this issue of barb's/no-barbs. It's a sport right? Hey my son had a goal called back because of an off-side at his hockey game the other night.... but you won't here me crying saying there shouldn't be off-side's!!?? Rules are Rules play by them or go home I say.:wave:

very nicely put!!!!

[ice]

Im pretty certain i lose more fish from snapped lines and missed hits rather than Barbless

[pdfish]

My take on barbless is this...for most species of Alberta fish, it doesn't really matter whether the hooks are barbed or not. A hook sized properly will find its way home and for the most part, stay put until you get the fish in. Now, in some species, like salmon, that have very hard mouths, the chances of a hook being "spit" are much greater, this I know from experience.:D

[dezmo]

i just throw dinamite down the hole no fish gets away. and wen they come blastin out there already to eat...:tongue2::mad2::tongue2::mad2::tongue2::mad2 ::tongue2::mad2:

[Slip*Bobber]

Wow! Am I surprised at what I have just read. For a bunch of grown men, all of the little kid banter and insults have gotten way out of control! Seriously, gaff, dynamite, and handguns...and people are complaining that a barbed hook is illegal, get those outrageous ideas out of here! I understand that some of these posts are purely for entertainment purposes but there are people on this site that do take what they read seriously.

Keeping the line taught while reeling in is one of the best ways to ensure you will land your fish above the ice. Barbed hooks are illegal; break the law and be prepared to pay...if you get caught! With the amount of fishing that Hooked does, I'm sure that his success rate is much more than 50%! Ever think that he wanted to find out what others opinions are on this topic?

As for losing bait due to barbless hooks, take a tiny piece of a jig and put it on your hook after you bait it, it will help in keeping the bait on the hook a bit better. Or stick a treble hook through the smelt then attach it to the leader. The fish will have to fight to get that bait away from your hook! Just some suggestions that work for me!

In my opinion, this site is great for reading about other people's tips and tricks. Keep the insults and bickering to yourself!;)

[Paul C]

Right or wrong its expensive to pay the fine when you have been caught.

[jacob1202]

u know what... if u need to feed your family and there is no other way and the only way u feel u can catch fish is with barbed hooks then ill look away... but only then... if ur out fishing for sport and dont need the meat... then go **** urself fish like the rest of us do...

[JtotheL]

My advice to you is to take your boy into shallow water and target walleye/pike, i am sure he would have much more fun. 60-80 ft is a long way up to bring a fish no matter what your expereince is. At 8 yrs old a fish is a fish, doesn't matter what the species is.

I have a 5yr old, that can handle a rod pretty good for his age. I tried taking him perch fishing and pretty much the same thing happened as you. 20ft of water and 10-15 ft up he would lose it. He was discouraged and not having much fun and cuts into my time by time i get him set up again. If he comes out with me now we just target walleye and he has a blast. If i am out solo i will try my luck at perch.

Just gotta adapt to the changes, good luck!!!
I have a 6 year old daughter that loves to catch fish and my bud has a boy the same age.When we take them out we keep it simple.They have as much fun catching Jacks and walleye as they would any other species.At 6 years old they catch them, Reel them in and hold them up for the camera all on their own.They always have fun.:wave:

[Geezle]

My advice to you is to take your boy into shallow water and target walleye/pike, i am sure he would have much more fun. 60-80 ft is a long way up to bring a fish no matter what your expereince is. At 8 yrs old a fish is a fish, doesn't matter what the species is.

I have a 5yr old, that can handle a rod pretty good for his age. I tried taking him perch fishing and pretty much the same thing happened as you. 20ft of water and 10-15 ft up he would lose it. He was discouraged and not having much fun and cuts into my time by time i get him set up again. If he comes out with me now we just target walleye and he has a blast. If i am out solo i will try my luck at perch.

Just gotta adapt to the changes, good luck!!!

X2 taking an 8 year old out for lakers might be putting the cart before the horse so to speak...take him for something a little more attainable and he'll have a blast and get hooked on the sport...take him back for the lakers in a couple years when he'll really appreciate it :)

[sir pikealott]

We started pinching down the barbs long before the rule even came out. Better for the fish, easier to relese and so much nicer to get out of your finger or the old school nets where you had to distroy it to get your hook un stuck. I'm all for Barbless!:)

[Hooked07]

Wow?! Whats with all the anger and hate?? I know it's par for the course for the topic I started but apparently barbed and barbless is pretty close to the heart for some. Some of you need to get back on the meds and stop taking everything so damn serious.:scared: I know the laws and follow them, I just hate this one(and a few others) But seriously, there have been some good suggestions here, I stll think the barbless law is bunk but hey I can think what I want. If you can't reply in good nature and jest its hardly appropriate to be giving parenting lessons so get bent! I assure you the boy has caught more Pike and Lakers through the ice at 8yrs old than most of you weekend warriors will in your lifetime! Maybe he's the next WFN Star if some of you think thats too much for a boy his age. Maybe I have a legit prodigy here than?? :rolleyes: The thread has gone to the wayside but also is entertaining for my crew and predictable, bring it on! :evilgrin: I always look forward to the guys on the lake; where do I fish, how deep, what bait, what colour underwear were you wearing when you caught them? If we were all *******s like some replying here it wouldn't be much fun now would it?

[Shmag]

Wow?! Whats with all the anger and hate?? I know it's par for the course for the topic I started but apparently barbed and barbless is pretty close to the heart for some. Some of you need to get back on the meds and stop taking everything so damn serious.:scared: I know the laws and follow them, I just hate this one(and a few others) But seriously, there have been some good suggestions here, I stll think the barbless law is bunk but hey I can think what I want. If you can't reply in good nature and jest its hardly appropriate to be giving parenting lessons so get bent! I assure you the boy has caught more Pike and Lakers through the ice at 8yrs old than most of you weekend warriors will in your lifetime! Maybe he's the next WFN Star if some of you think thats too much for a boy his age. Maybe I have a legit prodigy here than?? :rolleyes: The thread has gone to the wayside but also is entertaining for my crew and predictable, bring it on! :evilgrin: I always look forward to the guys on the lake; where do I fish, how deep, what bait, what colour underwear were you wearing when you caught them? If we were all *******s like some replying here it wouldn't be much fun now would it?

I thought my post was in good nature...if this is what you are referring to. Wasn't giving parenting advice, just stating what works for me and the boy.

[Hooked07]

Its all good schmag, others have been less than graceful.

[valve god]

Thank you Slip*Bobber for that response I never thought about a piece of jig body to hold the bait on the hook. Like I posted earlier we should be trading tips and pointers to each other not insults

[WayneChristie]

Thank you Slip*Bobber for that response I never thought about a piece of jig body to hold the bait on the hook. Like I posted earlier we should be trading tips and pointers to each other not insults

little piece of an elastic works too, same principal/ I use the piece of jig as bait for whitefish in the Bow when the no bait is in effect, bright orange works awesome :D

[iliketrout]

I've used Slip*Bobber's tactic of detaching the treble from the leader and pushing the shank up through the bait, then reattaching to the leader for quite some time now. It is almost impossible to lose the bait, it works really well on smelt if you can get the shank through the backbone. If the smelt and hook are sized properly you can hide the hook very effectively.

This is exclusively how I rig up buzz bombs at Spray.

[sir pikealott]

X2 on the little piece of elastic. Jig and minnow, bottom bouncing......works great. I like the idea of a piece of jig body and how it adds color too. Have to try that one.

[DarkAisling]

I assure you the boy has caught more Pike and Lakers through the ice at 8yrs old than most of you weekend warriors will in your lifetime!

I'm a little confused here . . . if your boy is that skilled what are you complaining about?

First you say it's about you:
So far this year I have personally lost over 50% of fish due to barbless through the ice and I'm damn sick of it!!!

Then you say it's about him:
Bringing up a 10lb laker from 60-80ft is hard for him at 8 yrs old never mind keeping the line slack free. It upset him losing them fish after finally getting a hookup which put me on this rant so...

:huh:

You are the one that said it was hard for him. None of us made that up. It is because of you that we were left unaware of his superior ability, and we responded in kind.

Wow. What a waste of my time.

[Okotokian]

Some of you need to get back on the meds and stop taking everything so damn serious.:scared: I know the laws and follow them I hear ya. I think this all started because some ding-dong said they were going to go back to using barbed hooks regardless of legality and just cut the line if F&W showed up.


I assure you the boy has caught more Pike and Lakers through the ice at 8yrs old than most of you weekend warriors will in your lifetime! Maybe he's the next WFN Star if some of you think thats too much for a boy his age. Maybe I have a legit prodigy here than?? :rolleyes:

Perhaps he should give you some fishing lessons then, given your own stated reason for the rant in the first place is that you can't land 50% of the fish you hook. By your own admission a child can do it. ;):D

[mooseknuckle]

I hear ya. I think this all started because some ding-dong said they were going to go back to using barbed hooks regardless of legality and just cut the line if F&W showed up.




Perhaps he should give you some fishing lessons then, given your own stated reason for the rant in the first place is that you can't land 50% of the fish you hook. By your own admission a child can do it. ;):D

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Okotokian]

Just to be clear, I have a pretty bad hooked-to-landed ratio too. I'm just clear about where the fault lies. It's with me. If your son has some free time in the next while, think he could help me out? :lol:

[Ken07AOVette]

Didn't you hear guys? You can insult someone, threaten to punch them in the face, berate them, come up with new and inventive ways of bending the law, call their mother in law names, throw in a :lol: and it negates everything else?
Those little smilies sure are powerful things.

[JtotheL]

If your thread is to only focus on barbless hooks then simply say you hate barbless hooks. Then wait for posters to come get you.:lol::lol::lol:

[Fishfinder]

I have a ? Kinda not really post related but whatever, this thread is going everywhere anyway...
About the elastic bands...if a fish steals ur bait n elastic band with it.., will the rubber harm the fish?? Yes I am a tree hugr. What can i say:)
P.s. - Hooked07...for the record, i never meant to tell u how to raise ur kids. If that's how u perceived it, I apologize. No harm intended.

[Fishfinder]

minnows and leaches wen you're jigin they always come off, barbless hooks suck. catching fish no problem, loosing bait always a problem...:mad3::mad2::mad3::mad2::mad3::mad2:

HaHa so true! Wiggly lil buggerz! All part of the game:D

[Hooked07]

Just can't let it go eh? First off "I" showed Slip*Bobber the tactic in keeping on the bait now she's trying to school me on it????? That's redonkilous and funny at the same time. I regularly school her on the H2O not the other way around. Here I am just getting out of bed from working nights and I'm checking AO for this awesomeness, the barbless hook law is still bunk. For some of you plugs that have requested, I have asked the boy and he is receptive to giving some lessons, just don't complain when you lose them at the hole, I recommend keeping the line "tight" or "taught" all the way up through onto the ice. Just because your geekiness can copy and paste some of the threads doesn't make your statements any more relevant.

[Hooked07]

Oh I forgot...:):):) Its all good now.

[Fishfinder]

Not too sure what ur tryin to say, or whom it is directed at but if it's Moi... I will be back from work in a few hrs to discuss ur damage further? I promise:evilgrin:

[pdfish]

Oh I forgot...:):):) Its all good now.

Well played, cudos!

[Hooked07]

And I will be back at work in a few hours, yes, bring it on. :)

p.s. I have 3 nights to go, than I'm fishing...

[Ken07AOVette]

Oh I forgot...:):):) Its all good now.

Bwaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha!!!

LOL

[Alex K]

First off I always fish according to the regulations, and if they impose barbless so be it. However to say that mortality is higher on barbed than barbless is not necessarily the facts. During my time as host of Fishing Alberta I had the opportunity to meet several of our fisheries biologists and one in perticular was very involved in the discussions when Banff National park was considering barbless regs and Alberta had not imposed this regulation yet. Now I am going from memory with this but here is what I remember in my discussions with him.
There has been several studies on this issue and the first study released did show signs of higher mortality on fish caught with barbed treble hooks than single barbless. So with this States like Idaho and the province of BC quickly jumped on this and imposed single barbless hook laws. Later this study was reviewed by others and found to have been flawed in some way. So more studies were done and as it was explained to me no good scientist can base anything on one study for this reason nor should laws be imposed that don't have science to back them.
So after several more studies they actually found in some cases that there was a higher mortality in single barbless than in barbed trebles. Good thing this was not the first study that states and provinces based there laws. Could you imagine flies tied with treble hooks. So any way with this said when they were looking at barbless single hooks in Banff they considered quality of fishing, mortality as well as quality of the experience. Therefore this biologist recomended they did not implement the barbless rules as it might hinder kids and new anglers from enjoying the experience of landing not just hooking fish.

As others have commented the other concern I have with the anglers believing that barbless single hooks do not cause mortality, think about this when we used barbs when a fish was hooked deep we simply cut the line as close to the mouth and released the fish. still some mortality for sure but usually they would survive. Now with barbless I constantly witness anglers digging way down and over handling the fish further stressing it than if they just cut the line. Now don't get me wrong I do fish barbless and don't mind just pointing out the facts as I remember them.
Mortality is part of fishing any way we slice it.

Just my 2 cents

Best regards and Good Fishing

Alex Kreis

[Slip*Bobber]

OK Hooked...Siebert Lake, Tuesday @ 06:30...ok 06:00!! Biggest Pick Wins!!!!!:tongue2:Then we'll see who teaches who!

[gatorhunter]

Manitoba's been barbless since the early 1990s and it is without a doubt THE BEST initiative that we've experienced. This whole fish losing thing is bogus and only an excuse! My kids have never fished with barbs having grown up with barbless hooks. They've caught tons of trophy fish; northerns, walleyes, sturgeon, channel catfish, etc. My Dad caught his first trophy walleye at 83 years of age on a barbless jig.

And the most important benefit from the human aspect has been mentioned. No remote area surgery to remove barbed hooks from ears, fingers, back of head, legs and other body parts.

http://i31.tinypic.com/14y1p1y.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2urqs9f.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/hu1vcw.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/34yvgck.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/16qbsi.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/x4prmc.jpg

[Hooked07]

Game on, Seibert Tuesday and 0530! Be there or remain inferior Slip*bobber.

P.s. I like you gatorhunter, you catch big Walleye! Barbless sucks...

[JtotheL]

Good work Gatorhunter those are sweet pics

[greylynx]

Everyone with hard core fisheries experience knows the barbless issue is a bunch of political bull-xxxx.

The younger guys in fisheries these days have to walk and talk the politically correct way to maintain the pay for peanuts jobs that they hold before they decide on another occupation.

Barbless hooks are as useless as Global Warming.

I know there will be responses to my post that the barbed hook entails too much damage on the mouth tissue of the fish. This is usually followed by some form of linear regression statistical analysis research to show how smart the individual was in obtaining his Master's degree to show how stupid we every day AO guys are.

Some of these eggheads don't even fish.

What you are seeing in my opinion is what politcal correctness does to the enjoyment of our sports.

[Hooked07]

Tried posting some pics but wrong sizes coming up...

[Geezle]

Tried posting some pics but wrong sizes coming up...

If you're trying to host your pics on the forum don't waste your time.

Just sign up for a hosting account on photobucket.com or something similar and link your pics from there...far far easier :wave:

[Fishfinder]

And I will be back at work in a few hours, yes, bring it on. :)

p.s. I have 3 nights to go, than I'm fishing...

3 nights to go,THEN ur catching and or killing is what u mean...

[BobLoblaw]

Tried posting some pics but wrong sizes coming up...

Maybe the pics are barbless, so they keep falling off??? Just sayin'...:D

[DLP]

3 nights to go,THEN ur catching and or killing is what u mean...

Fishfinder your crazy if you think your barbless hook's are saving the lives of fish. You obviously have some deep feelings for the fish you catch, do you shed a tear when we you pull your hook out? Do you think they can even feel it? barbless or not.

[Nerdapres']

I'm late to this discussion but it sounds like the original poster needs some fishing lessons - after a couple nights in jail for intentionally breaking the law.

Hey Mr. CO can I have his gear when you confiscate it?:lol:

[jeffrey929]

Personally i don't believe that barbed or barbless make that much of a difference to the health and well being of the fish. However, seeing as this province is mostly catch and release, due to the regs, barbless just makes that a whole lot easier

[shooter55]

barbless hooks make for easy release and less damage to the fish, most of the time...I fully support going barbless.... I wish they would have brought this out when I was a kid....

[bronco2]

Fishfinder your crazy if you think your barbless hook's are saving the lives of fish. You obviously have some deep feelings for the fish you catch, do you shed a tear when we you pull your hook out? Do you think they can even feel it? barbless or not.

Hey DLP, I am not trying to drag this (IMO session) on, but how about you take a big barbed red and yellow 5 of diamonds stick it in your mouth,wiggle it around a bit then pull real hard.(ouch I bet it hurts) Now that you have it lodged in your mouth with hopefully at least 2 of the hooks deeply sunk into tissue and bone, slowly go to the nearest fisherman and ask him to please remove the hooks as if you are a 12 lb Burbot, (you better have something to hold onto cause this is gonna hurt like hell). After this little experiment is done and you are bleeding like a stuck pig, you return to the forum and tell all of us if they can feel it.
Just my 2 cents.
Happy Barbless fishing everyone else.

[Fishfinder]

Fishfinder your crazy if you think your barbless hook's are saving the lives of fish. You obviously have some deep feelings for the fish you catch, do you shed a tear when we you pull your hook out? Do you think they can even feel it? barbless or not.

Hmmmm. Well...what can i say...don't really matter what i think now does it...ur gonna fish the way u want anyway. I won't go into detail about the obvious. I must b crazy??
Jus don't get it do you? To each their own I spose.
I don't care if they can feel it or not, it's the principle, and facts r facts. Try a lil research. Either part of the problem...or part of the solution, choice is urs pal.
I will ask the fishies what they think on the matter...that is... if i can bring em to the surface without em tossin me hook. Gettin them to talk...that's the tuff part. N yes...sometimes I cry:p

[Winch101]

Where barbless is really tough is Lindy Rigging .....Those size #10 hooks

dont have much gap ...The premise is to let the fish swallow the hook and bait , but even barbless hooks are hard to retrieve when down the gullet ...
and especially on small fish , i have quit riggin too many bleeding babies ...

Where I thought you'd lose a lot, is ice fishing with big baits , but I cant think of one decent fish that didnt come out the hole since barbless come in.

Now summer fishing, call me finicky but I dont want those slimy slough sharks coming in the boat or even net ; sometimes fishing res walleyes
you'll have 25 handles a day ...barbless is great , you can just shake them off. Remember like a lot of things " It's all how you jiggle your pole "

[Tony_S]

Hey DLP, I am not trying to drag this (IMO session) on, but how about you take a big barbed red and yellow 5 of diamonds stick it in your mouth,wiggle it around a bit then pull real hard.(ouch I bet it hurts) Now that you have it lodged in your mouth with hopefully at least 2 of the hooks deeply sunk into tissue and bone, slowly go to the nearest fisherman and ask him to please remove the hooks as if you are a 12 lb Burbot, (you better have something to hold onto cause this is gonna hurt like hell). After this little experiment is done and you are bleeding like a stuck pig, you return to the forum and tell all of us if they can feel it.
Just my 2 cents.
Happy Barbless fishing everyone else.

Arguments like this don't really belong in a thread such as this IMO...It's not a 'pain' issue. And even if it was, there is much scientific debate as to how a fish feels pain. It's definitely not the same way humans feel it.
Even if they did feel pain the way we do...I don't much care to be honest with you. It's not like I can say, ok...I'm willing to put these fish through a WHOLE BUNCH OF PAIN....but not an EXTREME AMOUNT! If it's a huge issue to yourself...I would think you should stop fishing all together...because I really don't think a barbless hook 'hurts' a fish a whole lot less than a barbed hook (up until removal, if at all).

Bottom line (if you keep human emotions out of it) It's a hemorrhage and tissue damage issue, that's it IMO.

[Tuc]

I don't think barbless hooks make a difference as far as fish mortality goes, I've heard of no proven evidence.
I'm from the old school and I personally get fed up with all the new regs these days, especially the ones that don't make any sense. I do try and abide by the rules but I often find myself forgetting too close the barb when I open a pkg of new hooks. Honest mistake but I don't think F&W would see it that way.
I'm sure our law makers are trying to protect our resources but I find some of it is just plain nonsense.

[JtotheL]

I think you just WANT TO BREAK THE RULES and you're just looking for some posters to agree with you and justify it in your mind. I bet you freaked out about the seatbelt law too. I don't like Catch limits but that doesn't mean that i'm going to ignore them. Or complain about them on the forum..... Oops:scared:

[spopadyn]

If you search internet, the latest findings are quite simple: when people have a hook set which is barbed, they land the fish quicker. Without a barb, it takes more time and sometimes patience (which many time leads to increased fish mortality as they get too played out) to get your catch in. With any law, there is often an unintended consequence. This is why all the latest studies show no statistical difference in fish death between barbless and barbed hooks. I really don't personally care as I have fished barbless for years with salmon, but my two cents is this is just another tax on fisherman and has nothing to do with protecting our fishery. Imagine a province where it is legal to sell drugs but illegal to use them? Makes no sense but this is what we have in Alberta. Why not mandate that the stores selling fishing equipment only sell barbless? Because it cuts into F&W profits.

[bobalong]

Why not mandate that the stores selling fishing equipment only sell barbless?

Lure manufactures, which are mostly in the US produce lures for a world wide market. I don't think you will ever see the major manufactures switchng to barbless, until you see the majority of the countries going barbless. They are hardly going to produce all their lures with both, just because a few provinces went barbless. The reality is there are very few barbless hooks even available on the market of any kind, with the exception of a few packaged, single, treble hooks and a few jigs.

[Fishfinder]

I really think barbie dolls or not, it sure seems to define a person/s. Personally i have lost alot of fish due to no barbs (thats what i blame it on anyway har har), but bottom line is, they stay alive and grow...n i fish again tomorrow. Simple as that??

[Drewski Canuck]

Don't know what your set up is, but if it is just bait on a tip up, switch to CIRCLE HOOKS!!. I have used them for years for everything from salmon fishing to walleye, pike and trout. No need for a barb. I have been converting people for years, and I still get funny looks from CO's and have to explain how it works, so don't feel stupid by asking me questions on the subject.

Drewski

[Hooked07]

I think you just WANT TO BREAK THE RULES and you're just looking for some posters to agree with you and justify it in your mind. I bet you freaked out about the seatbelt law too. I don't like Catch limits but that doesn't mean that i'm going to ignore them. Or complain about them on the forum..... Oops:scared:

Pretty deep, maybe your right and I am looking for justification from you to fish barbless. In my mind eh? No, actually my mind is all big gunns, big walleye, killing stuff, actual firearms and big gunns again. Yeah that's pretty much it, in that order. Seriously though, big difference between human safety and a fish's well being there bub, seatbelts?? What are you talking about?!
On another note, now don't let go of that tree but it can't be proven fish even register pain in the same capacity as an actual human so enough of the poor fish stories, you remember us humans, the top of the food chain where we actually eat fish, omg!

[JtotheL]

Fair enough,Serves me right for wading in on a $@^$disturber thread. Keep stirring the pot you'll churn up more responses but not from me I'm going back to fishing discussions.This one's going sideways.:wave:

[DLP]

Fair enough,Serves me right for wading in on a $@^$disturber thread. Keep stirring the pot you'll churn up more responses but not from me I'm going back to fishing discussions.This one's going sideways.:wave:


Hahaha:lol:

[Slip*Bobber]

Hey Fishfinder, what's up with all of the Barbie Doll comments? I don't understand what point you are trying to get across with that reference?:confused:

[Paul C]

When they said trains they thought they said brains and they tried to catch one.

[maxpower2506]

Simple, if you can't live with the rules, quit fishing,leaves more for people who truly enjoy the sport. :

[winged1]

Since learning to fish carp out of the S.Sask in S'toon back in the 50's, I've never held an expectation that a fish bitten, is a fish landed. I went barbless in the mid 80's and use it for all species.

One of the most enjoyable time slots of any fishing trip for me, is the time between fish on, and fish released. It's when I can actually interact with the other player. Using a barb for me now, is unthinkable.

Later this study was reviewed by others and found to have been flawed in some way. So more studies were done and as it was explained to me no good scientist can base anything on one study for this reason nor should laws be imposed that don't have science to back them.

I don't need scientific studies. I can clearly see the effects in my years of observation.

[dezmo]

it's guna be **** in 10yrs anyway, lakes are getting fished out. fish are getting stunted. the fines now are stupid high wich is good barbed hook 200 bucks. with all that money the fish and game should higher better fish managment people. to get our lakes up to par, and now alot of lakes are going to the tag system like wat the heck. there'z only a few lakes a guy can keep walleye. all i can say is fish while the fishin is good and have a good time while it last's. cause seriously things could be run better...:tongue2:

[Don Andersen]

Folks,

The barbless hook idea came directly from Ralph Klien and was fought by the folks from the Fisheries Division cause it made no sense. But Ralphie was what he was and he wasn't to be derailed by any logical argument from F&W. So we have barbless.
You want somebody to blame - blame Ralphie.

It isn't about fines, ease of release of yourself and others, release of fish or any other silly notion. It was about Ralphie who @ the time apparently was partners with some guys in a BC lodge. Expect that's where he learned about barbless. Probably wasn't on a Molsons can.




Don

[Shmag]

First off I always fish according to the regulations, and if they impose barbless so be it. However to say that mortality is higher on barbed than barbless is not necessarily the facts. During my time as host of Fishing Alberta I had the opportunity to meet several of our fisheries biologists and one in perticular was very involved in the discussions when Banff National park was considering barbless regs and Alberta had not imposed this regulation yet. Now I am going from memory with this but here is what I remember in my discussions with him.
There has been several studies on this issue and the first study released did show signs of higher mortality on fish caught with barbed treble hooks than single barbless. So with this States like Idaho and the province of BC quickly jumped on this and imposed single barbless hook laws. Later this study was reviewed by others and found to have been flawed in some way. So more studies were done and as it was explained to me no good scientist can base anything on one study for this reason nor should laws be imposed that don't have science to back them.
So after several more studies they actually found in some cases that there was a higher mortality in single barbless than in barbed trebles. Good thing this was not the first study that states and provinces based there laws. Could you imagine flies tied with treble hooks. So any way with this said when they were looking at barbless single hooks in Banff they considered quality of fishing, mortality as well as quality of the experience. Therefore this biologist recomended they did not implement the barbless rules as it might hinder kids and new anglers from enjoying the experience of landing not just hooking fish.

As others have commented the other concern I have with the anglers believing that barbless single hooks do not cause mortality, think about this when we used barbs when a fish was hooked deep we simply cut the line as close to the mouth and released the fish. still some mortality for sure but usually they would survive. Now with barbless I constantly witness anglers digging way down and over handling the fish further stressing it than if they just cut the line. Now don't get me wrong I do fish barbless and don't mind just pointing out the facts as I remember them.
Mortality is part of fishing any way we slice it.

Just my 2 cents

Best regards and Good Fishing

Alex Kreis


Interesting!!!

[Shmag]

Well i can still remember when they were first introduced barbless into the system. I hated the idea of it, but after following it i really didn't mind it that much. Now it just seems like a non-issue to me.

One guy on here said he figured barbless took more time to bring a fish in and i think it would be the other way around. As i see people and it was written on here to keep your lines tight. I feel because of this people are really horsing that fish in. Not giving a remote chance of getting slack in their line, then you add that to fishing in the deep which most of the shack cities on slave lake are in 30ft of water. The fishing is usually pretty good. How many fish being released have an exploded air bladder.

I think there has been alot of varibles when introducing a regulation that has not been considered. I would instead like to know the mortality rate of fish released from deep water

[Okotokian]

Pretty deep, maybe your right and I am looking for justification from you to fish barbless. In my mind eh? No, actually my mind is all big gunns, big walleye, killing stuff, actual firearms and big gunns again. Yeah that's pretty much it, in that order. Seriously though, big difference between human safety and a fish's well being there bub, seatbelts?? What are you talking about?!
On another note, now don't let go of that tree but it can't be proven fish even register pain in the same capacity as an actual human so enough of the poor fish stories, you remember us humans, the top of the food chain where we actually eat fish, omg!

Hooked, I think you are missing the point. I think the big reason you are getting heat and push-back (from most anyway) is not because you hate barbless and say it. It's because you said you were going to go ahead and break the law. That get's people going here. Go and take a look at the thread on deer baiting. Lots of opinions on both sides, but if you posted that you deer baited here in Alberta regardless of the law you would have most here turning you in. Now I suspect that you likely aren't going to break the law and just said that out of frustration, but it's what you said.

Now I would love to be able to use barbed hooks too, because I do lose some fish. But it's the law so I accept it and do the best I can. It's still sport.