The poster child for single barbless

[smitty9]

So...we enter another season of stream fishing.

And, by August, if not sooner, when I get down to the Oldman watershed, it will be another round of catching cutts beat up by weeks of angling pressure.

Why this watershed (and others) is not single barbless is beyond me.

Yes, I know, I've heard, its not definitive that barbless produces less mortality. So forget mortality for one lousy second.

It could produce less fish whose faces are beat to hell.

I suppose it's just as easy for me to say I am part of the problem and I should stop fishing for them on the high pressured reaches of that watershed.

But I also know my barbless size 16 parachute Adams isn't doing the damage the way a mepps or panther martin spinner is.

And I've seen far worse examples than these 2.

[Edit, to be clear, images pulled off the internet. Not my photos or fish I have caught. They are mere substitutes for what I have seen in person.]

[35 whelen]

There's no reason the whole Province should not be barbless, I grew up in Manitoba and we switched in 1987 Alberta's so far behind the times it's funny

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[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by 35 whelen

There's no reason the whole Province should not be barbless, I grew up in Manitoba and we switched in 1987 Alberta's so far behind the times it's funny

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Alberta was barbless province wide in the past. Can’t remember why that came to an end. Personally seen no issue when it was barbless

As for single hooks vs treble there is actually down sides to both. Trebles are well known they can pierce at multiple points it’s easily seen but the conjunction of the points also prevents them from sinking in as deep as a single can. Singles can be a real issue if the size doesn’t match the fish. Too large they are prone to eye hook and brain hook fish. Too small they are more streamline and gut/throat hook fish easier. Small singles with bait are fish killers

Barbless I am all for but when it comes to hook configuration it’s more about applying the correct size, style of fishing, and species. Most don’t take the time to do this

As for the pic I have whiteness that kind of mouth damage and even missing parts of their jaw in many busy barbless only waters. It is often the result of poor handling well removing the hook not barbs. It was common to see on the Bow even in the barbless only days. We have all seen those who grab the hook with forceps or pliers and shakes the fish of rather then turning the hook out

All for using appropriate gear and a big preacher of proper fish handling but I also have a very good understanding of the impacts of the different gear and the advantages and disadvantages. Learned a lot after over 10years of observations on a private system where I could truly observe and adjust

[35 whelen]

Alberta was barbless for a couple years and it was all because cuz of the writing of the law was done wrong, they had to cancel it and it's never been reinstated.

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[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by 35 whelen

Alberta was barbless for a couple years and it was all because cuz of the writing of the law was done wrong, they had to cancel it and it's never been reinstated.

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I thought it was a lot longer then 2years but I honestly don’t remember the time frame

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by 35 whelen

Alberta was barbless for a couple years and it was all because cuz of the writing of the law was done wrong, they had to cancel it and it's never been reinstated.

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Had to look it up out of curiosity and what I found was it was 2004-2011

[Soab]

Every fish ya catch up there is like that. It’s catch and release only ! At the very least all c and r should be single barbless

[slingshotz]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Had to look it up out of curiosity and what I found was it was 2004-2011

I read the regs every year and I only realized this year that they never mentioned barbless so I haven't stopped pinching my barbs. I must be pretty slow as I never put two and two together when all the times over the past few years I was checked by a CO and I realized they never asked to check my barbs

I don't often lose a fish due to the barbless but the ease of pulling out a hook from your clothes, skin, dog, etc is priceless so I'll probably not stop pinching them.

[CatchingWithChris]

I agree that catch and release water should be barbless. I pull the nice male rainbow from the ice back in April from a bait ban catch and release pond and take a look for yourself.

[Outbound]

I'd love to see single barbless hooks become the norm.

Although I fly fish 90% of the time (always single barbless), I do break out the spinning gear occasionally. The only treble hooks in my tackle boxes are on my big pike lures, and I'm on the fence about even those. I may experiment with singles on them.

Everything else is swapped out for Gamakatsu Siwash hooks with the barbs pinched. The first thing I do when buying Mepps or Blue Fox spinners is to cut off all the treble hooks and throw them away.

I grew up in BC. All flowing water is single barbless hook. Most of the trout lakes I fished were fly fishing only, single barbless hook. It's my opinion that if someone insists on using trebles, it's because they don't know how to play a fish properly. I don't use bait, so I have no experience with deep hooking fish, which one poster claims can be reduced with trebles. I've never deep hooked a fish with spinners or spoons.

[Dielbo]

Originally Posted by smitty9

So...we enter another season of stream fishing.

And, by August, if not sooner, when I get down to the Oldman watershed, it will be another round of catching cutts beat up by weeks of angling pressure.

Why this watershed (and others) is not single barbless is beyond me.

Yes, I know, I've heard, its not definitive that barbless produces less mortality. So forget mortality for one lousy second.

It could produce less fish whose faces are beat to hell.

I suppose it's just as easy for me to say I am part of the problem and I should stop fishing for them on the high pressured reaches of that watershed.

But I also know my barbless size 16 parachute Adams isn't doing the damage the way a mepps or panther martin spinner is.

And I've seen far worse examples than these 2.

[Edit, to be clear, images pulled off the internet. Not my photos or fish I have caught. They are mere substitutes for what I have seen in person.]

I swap all of my treble hooks for either a red walleye hook, an octopus hook or an appropriately-sized siwash. Have caught pike all spring and the siwash tends to hook them in the corner of their mouths, then you can play them like a trout. It's fun and such an easy release. Just remember to use forceps or pliers to pop out the hook as fingers tend to get bit... I did this a few weeks back, ouch.

It always upsets me to foul-hook a fish, well... except for a carp, nothing worse than getting them in the eye with a treble. It's really not needed in most fishing situations either. Saltwater guys survive without them (I think?).

[35 whelen]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Had to look it up out of curiosity and what I found was it was 2004-2011

I guess that's more than a couple years I don't remember cuz I've always been barbless

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[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Soab

Every fish ya catch up there is like that. It’s catch and release only ! At the very least all c and r should be single barbless

Agree. Great place to start.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by Outbound

I'd love to see single barbless hooks become the norm.

Although I fly fish 90% of the time (always single barbless), I do break out the spinning gear occasionally. The only treble hooks in my tackle boxes are on my big pike lures, and I'm on the fence about even those. I may experiment with singles on them.

Everything else is swapped out for Gamakatsu Siwash hooks with the barbs pinched. The first thing I do when buying Mepps or Blue Fox spinners is to cut off all the treble hooks and throw them away.

I grew up in BC. All flowing water is single barbless hook. Most of the trout lakes I fished were fly fishing only, single barbless hook. It's my opinion that if someone insists on using trebles, it's because they don't know how to play a fish properly. I don't use bait, so I have no experience with deep hooking fish, which one poster claims can be reduced with trebles. I've never deep hooked a fish with spinners or spoons.

Hard to get the big lures to balance with singles but I have swapped trebles for singles on some of mine for that heavy post spawn action and still caught lots of fish with much easier releases.

LC

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Alberta was barbless province wide in the past. Can’t remember why that came to an end. Personally seen no issue when it was barbless

As for single hooks vs treble there is actually down sides to both. Trebles are well known they can pierce at multiple points it’s easily seen but the conjunction of the points also prevents them from sinking in as deep as a single can. Singles can be a real issue if the size doesn’t match the fish. Too large they are prone to eye hook and brain hook fish. Too small they are more streamline and gut/throat hook fish easier. Small singles with bait are fish killers

Barbless I am all for but when it comes to hook configuration it’s more about applying the correct size, style of fishing, and species. Most don’t take the time to do this

As for the pic I have whiteness that kind of mouth damage and even missing parts of their jaw in many busy barbless only waters. It is often the result of poor handling well removing the hook not barbs. It was common to see on the Bow even in the barbless only days. We have all seen those who grab the hook with forceps or pliers and shakes the fish of rather then turning the hook out

All for using appropriate gear and a big preacher of proper fish handling but I also have a very good understanding of the impacts of the different gear and the advantages and disadvantages. Learned a lot after over 10years of observations on a private system where I could truly observe and adjust

well said,

I have applications in which the best is a single hook, some a treble, some increasing size or decreasing size to get to what I would deem the most action out of a lure and thus the response of a fish...hopefully a caught fish or at least a strike That being said I pinch barbs for the simple reason it is easier on the fish and if I or some one close to my crappy ability to toss a lure etc should get snagged it can be removed easily...I also insist that all wear eye glasses be it sun glasses etc...sometimes it turns into a gong show...almost a combat zone.

[Outbound]

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

Hard to get the big lures to balance with singles but I have swapped trebles for singles on some of mine for that heavy post spawn action and still caught lots of fish with much easier releases.

LC

That's kind of what I figured. I'll do some experimenting.

[Dielbo]

Originally Posted by Outbound

That's kind of what I figured. I'll do some experimenting.

It's not too hard. A lot of manufacturers include an-inline hook in their packaging. I know the Blue Fox Vibrax, for one, does. It's just a matter of balancing it.

This guy knows: https://youtu.be/TngE-umS36k

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Outbound

That's kind of what I figured. I'll do some experimenting.

As someone who builds all kinds of lures I can tell you it’s all about the weight of the hook that impacts the action. If you want to swap a single weight the original treble and then find a single of similar weight. Spinners and spoons it not much of a issue but crankbaits and lures like this yes. Playing with different hooks you can open up the wiggle or tighten it as well

Top waters a lot of times singles dramatically decrease hook ups

[Jayhad]

I believe that barbless is better

That said I've been searching for a study out of BYU (I know) that showed that hooks smaller than 16 should be barbed as the small hook creates a conical abscess in the jaw because it doesn't lock in. This abscess can cause the pictures posted here, so can big hooks.

Many studies also show there is virtually no statistical data showing that mortality increases with the use of barbless.

The biggest culprit to mortality increase during catching and release angling is the time of handling. The time of handling is thought to be increased with trebles.

Trout are the outliner and are less resilient than course fish.

I fish a lot of Sz 18-22s as trailers in one of my favorite streamers and I fish those all barbed. They pop out easy.

[Dielbo]

Originally Posted by Jayhad

I believe that barbless is better

That said I've been searching for a study out of BYU (I know) that showed that hooks smaller than 16 should be barbed as the small hook creates a conical abscess in the jaw because it doesn't lock in. This abscess can cause the pictures posted here, so can big hooks.

Many studies also show there is virtually no statistical data showing that mortality increases with the use of barbless.

The biggest culprit to mortality increase during catching and release angling is the time of handling. The time of handling is thought to be increased with trebles.

Trout are the outliner and are less resilient than course fish.

I fish a lot of Sz 18-22s as trailers in one of my favorite streamers and I fish those all barbed. They pop out easy.

I've never heard of that study but now that you've mentioned it that does make sense to me. The small harmless tend to wiggle around even if it's in the corner of their jaw and yeah, I've noticed that "conical abscess" result before.