checked by F&W

[mud slug]

played hookie from work with the boss today and went ice fishing out at pigeon. was out maby a hour when F&W showed up checking for licences and barbless hooks.they ran 4lb test over the hook and if it snaged you got a ticket. gave me a warning because the hooks in my tackle box had barbs,told them that i break them off when i use them.one guy beside us got a $198 ticket for not having a barbless hook took them three tries to snag the line but they did.don't realy think its fair but oh well. landed two pike and one small walleye released all three boss got skunked.

[Reeves1]

4lb test would "snag" on my rough hands ! Three trys ? A bit over, IMO....

[Grizzly Adams]

That's when you go to court and say show the judge how you did that.
Grizz

[Logan]

i have been stopped 3 times in the last three years and each time i asked the F&W fellow to be kind enough to show me how to tell if my barb is pinched enough and they have ALL showed me different ways and had a different opinion on how much is pinched enough. Until they can can come up with a definitive way to tell fisherman how to ensure your barb is pinched enough I think the ticket shouldn't be hard to fight.

[gage251]

It sounds like they are being inconsistant with checking. I was stopped this summer and he just looked at my hooks and said good job. They need some hard fast rules for the rest of us to follow as well!

gave me a warning because the hooks in my tackle box had barbs,told them that i break them off when i use them.

They actually wrote you a warming? There nothing illegal about barbed hooks out of the water.

[CNP]

Originally Posted by sheephunter

They actually wrote you a warming? There nothing illegal about barbed hooks out of the water.

Thats a fact. It's not illegal to have barbed hooks in a tackle box, or your house, or in a store lol.................if it weren't they sure would be busy at the Fishin' Hole, Canadian Tire, Wholesale, etc, etc lol.

I got a warning (written) one time for not being barbless too. I was fishin' away, got the inevitable snag......my Silver Fox spinner was barbless. I lost the spinner of course and I took a new one out of the tackle box.........no pliers dohhhhhh....... I put it on anyway. It was like they new lol. I hear a voice behind me......Hello Sir (female voice) I turn around and I see a fish cop. Guilty as charged. I explained to her that if she came 5 mins ago she would have seen a barbless hook lol. She asks for my license...I check my back pocket and no wallet. Embarrasing but my wallet is only 100 yards away in my truck. So we stroll over to my truck get my wallet and pass over my license...as I'm passing my license to her I see that I didn't sign it....I've had better days. We got along just fine and to finsih it off she gave me a written warning. Hey, I was wrong.

[LongDraw]

Good post.

I was checked this past summer for license, barbed hooks, etc...
Not by a CO, but a young park ranger that came up to me when I was TYING on my fly in the parking lot, of course my barb was not pinched yet, I cut the tag end on the line, then pinch. Of course I am polite through the whole dog and pony show, but she gave me a stearn verbal warning about it. Pick your battles, I was feeling like a pressure cooker inside, but kept my cool.

You can use maggots in this stream though, kinda bass ackwards if you ask me?

Barbless only dry flies, but bait allowed?????

[Piker]

Does anybody know where to buy barbless hooks? Every store I have been does not sell them and thye tell me there is no demand for them. The 4lb snag trick makes me wonder as some of my barb pinching does not look that good.I guess I will be doubly carefull.

[nekred]

in my final year of university i did a research project that was a literature review to see if fish mortality is changed with barbless hooks.

I read journal articles from many different sources and one of the best was form Alaska Fish and Game.

In the studies it was inconclusive.... a barbed hook is harder to remove but also does not sink as deep and "saw" back and forth.

One thing noted with the barbless hook is that more fish "self release" before they are landed!.....

One thing the alsaka study made as a conclusion was that Release mortality is more related to fish handling than hook type.

One part of the alaska study looked at treble vs. single hooks and ound that treble hooks had more chance of hooking a fish but usually did not hook as deep.....

Some very interesting reading that has led me to one conclusion.... the reason for barbless hooks is to allow people to utilise the resource but deplete it less because of less hooking success.

I agree with barbless in C and R waters because hook is easier to remove and the chance of self release is better which is acceptable to me because otherwise i would not be able to access that water to fish.

I am a catch and release fisher the majority of the time..... but that is a personal choice.... I fully support those who catch and keep.

[CNP]

Originally Posted by Piker

Does anybody know where to buy barbless hooks? Every store I have been does not sell them and thye tell me there is no demand for them. The 4lb snag trick makes me wonder as some of my barb pinching does not look that good.I guess I will be doubly carefull.

Try this Barbless Fish Hook Canadian Product.

The majority of hooks are made in China (some speculation here lol) and that is just how it is.

[QIsley]

As a fisherman that has caught fish on both barbless and barbed hooks I have found that it is significantly easier to release fish caught on Barbless hooks. Easer release = less handling, Less handling = Less mortality. Less mortality = better fishing.

As a fisherman I stongly believe in this regulation. I my opinion the penalty should be an automatic 1 year suspension on top of the $200 specified ticket. People that don't have enough respect for the limited fish resources to follow the rules should not be fishing.

There are no hooks in my tackle box that are not pinched, and I would not concider taking a barbed hook to the waterbody I am fishing at in case it got accidently used.

[Cowtown guy]

I do a pile of walleye fishing every summer. I have released hundreds of fish in tournaments and recreation fishing. With or without barbs I have never ever had a fish die on me. I find that the biggest reason fish die is because the angler doesn't use his/her head. If you pull a walleye out of 30+ feet of water their chance of survival declines for every foot deeper than 30 they come out of unless you know how to fizz them. I don't know how to do this and I don't want to know. Therefore I stay under 30 feet. See how easy that is.
If you allow the fish to chew on a bait for a number of minutes that fish will take the bait deep. Barbless or not, if the bait is deep the mortality rate goes up.
I will not pinch all the barbs in my tackle because I fish where barbs are legal still also. If I select a lure with barbs while here in AB then I will pinch them. Not until.
I also don't think I will stand for someone verbally berating me unless I have done something wrong. If I get a written warning I may just have the urge to blow my nose right there and then. If I am guilty, I am man enough to take my punishment and not argue. These guys are only doing their jobs. They don't make ridiculous laws they just enforce them.

[gramps73]

A stiffer suspension or a larger fine are not going to stop anything.
500 bucks for running a red light people still do it....
g

[willy]

yup its a ridiculuous law that take time outta the F&W officers time when could be spending it lookin for poachers. I havent been checked in 20yrs yet anyway. Im heading to mcgregor this afternoon the pike were biting good last monday.

[mud slug]

if i would have got a ticket i would have got a ticket big deal thats what the courts are for. i just thought it was a little overboard giveing a warrning for something thats NOT illegal ,and THREE trys to snag a barb with four lb test is bull**** in my books.they seamed to be looking to snag someone and they were not happy tell they did.

[wake]

I will put a call into the Edmonton office and talk to Drew about this,I am not sure this proper...Sounds like head hunting to me.

[sourdough doug]

Calling QIsley, calling Qisley, Would you be the same indiv., who used to be a fish cop in Slave Lake approx 20 yrs ago??? Just wondering? Speaking of volumes---

[QIsley]

Yes Doug, you are correct, my applogies to Mud and the board, unnessisary comments removed.

[Pigshanks]

Checked by a fish cop last winter. Made me pull both line and on one he made me stick the hook through the cuff of my jacket 6 times until it snagged on the material then proceded to write me a warning for not crimping the barb down enough . No wonder they get treated like they do. Some can be real a-holes.

[Mish]

I've found barbless hooks at a Wal-Mart in BC, believe it or not. There was only one package and they were size 2 so I can't use them for everything....I actually don't think I've ever even used them at all. When I go that big I usually stick with lures or jigs. But they sit in my tackle box along with the rest of my hooks.

What is the best way to remove the barb? I've been pinching them but I see some "barb removing tools" that clip the barb off. Wouldn't this leave a sharp edge that could snag?

[mud slug]

no apology nessasary IQsley kevin

[gramps73]

Never looked at it as you were bitching, just stating the facts.
Good on you.