ive read a fair number of different studies and opinions, and it seems that if you can see through the numbers there is some info to be had. from what i understand, the barb itself is not the problem for the fish. just studying the effect of the barb shows with or without there is little difference to the fish. with a barb, basically the fish swims away with a little different size of hole in its lip. in cases where the study goes a little deeper however, they looked into the handling time of the angler while digging the hook out, and thats where the difference was noted. im not gonna spew numbers, and im sure the links will start rolling in, but survival for barbless hooks was higher based on that in the articles i read. the less you handle a fish, the better its chance of survival upon release. with barbless hooks, handling time was reduced and that was the real reason for the difference.
personally i dont eat fish, they all go back. i have been pinching barbs since long before it was law, and if i can i dont even touch the fish when i get them up. i prefer to just reach out with the needlenose and pop the hook free....unless id like a picture. id love to think they all survive, but i suspect i unknowingly kill the odd one.
so from your tone....im guessing you forgot to pinch the new hooks you bought and were fined?
