Fishing Barbless

For the last few years I’ve been fishing barbless. Dave introduced me to fishing this way on a trip to Short Lake near Armstrong Station, Ontario, and I haven’t looked back.

What is barbless fishing?

Barbed vs Barbless Hooks

Barbless fishing is exactly what it sounds like, fishing with hooks that don’t have barbs. In most cases we take a normal hook and carefully squeeze the barb with a pair of pliers until the tip of the barb touches the hook. Done carefully you can modify your favorite hooks quickly and easily to start barbless fishing right away. There are also several manufacturers starting to embrace barbless fishing.

Why Fish Barbless?

There are many reasons to consider fishing barbless. And for the sport fisherman practicing CPR there are very few reasons to not fish barbless.

It’s better for the fish

Fishing barbless makes hook removal easier on the fish. Most hook ups leave you with a hook that is right on the lip and easy to remove. But we have all had that aggressive, larger, fish gulp your lure all the way to it’s belly. Or that smaller fish biting off more than he can chew and have the hook come out in a strange location, near an eye or similar place. This is when barbless hooks really shine. It’s easier to remove the hook and does far less damage to the fish in the process.

Then you have the fly fishing for certain types of trout that really need to be handled with care. When you fish them barbless you don’t even need to touch them to remove the hook. Even better for the fish.

It’s better for you

Ever get a hook jammed in your thumb trying to unhook a fish? How about sit on a hook in the boat? There are only two kinds of fishermen, those that have been hooked, and those that are about to be hooked.

With a barbless hook you no longer have to try some trick to remove the hook. Or make a long drive to the ER, and heaven forbid getting deep hooked out in the wilderness. A barbless hook comes out just about as easily as it went in.

Even better that saving a thumb though is the easy release. When fishing particularly slimy fish like Northern there is nothing worse that losing control of the fish and getting covered in slime and having it all over the bottom of your boat. With a barbless hook all you need to do is reach out with your hook pliers and give the hook a little shake. Instant release without even taking the fish out of the water.

Better Hook Ups

Yes, I said it, better hook ups with fish. All things being equal, it takes less pressure to push a barbless hook through the lip of a fish than it does to push a barb through. Instead of ripping the hook out of the fishes mouth trying to drive the barb through, you can hit just a little softer and sink the hook right in.

Fishing barbless is an easy transition for most fishmen. The only thing that you need to change with your technique is to keep constant pressure on the line. You don’t need to drag the fish to the boat, but you do need to keep your line tight the entire time you are reeling in. Any slack at all and you stand a real chance of losing your fish.

Will you miss more fish? Probably. Is it a better way to fish for the sport fisherman? I think so. So start mashing those hooks and taking better care of the fish out there. Who knows, the thumb you save may be your own.