You should strongly consider smashing hook barbs any time you’re catch and release fishing. Not only are crushed barb hooks more humane to the fish, they are also easier to remove if you yourself get hooked. Using barbless hooks very well could prevent a future emergency room visit.
7 Reasons To Crush Hook Barbs
- Hooks Penetrate Easier
- Easier Hook Removal
- Quicker Hook Removal
- Less Damage To The Fish
- Less Potential Damage To You
- Less Snags On Equipment
- It’s The Law
1. Hooks Penetrate Easier
With a smaller diameter point, it only makes sense that barbless fish hooks will more easily penetrate a fish’s mouth. In theory, this results in more hooked fish.
2. Easier Hook Removal From Fish
Barbless hooks also come out of a fish’s mouth much easier, and with less damage. With barbless hooks, many times you won’t even need pliers, or other external devices, to remove hooks. As a result, this speeds up your releases.
Easier hook removal is particularly important when using treble hooks. Getting a bunch of barbed trebles out of a thrashing fish’s mouth is a real pain, especially with a toothy fish, such as a bluefish.
3. Quicker Release
Being able to quickly remove hooks, and immediately get your bait back out there, is a nice benefit of barbless hooks. No pliers are needed to yank a barb free. Simply pop the hook out and keep fishing.
4. More Humane Releases
Barb free hooks also cause less damage to a fish’s mouth during the fight, as well as when unhooking them. I have sent many a fish back with a large bloody hole in their mouth, which is certainly not an ideal situation. A lot of this damage could have been prevented by using barbless hooks, combined with proper fish fighting skills.
5. Safer Hook Removal From Yourself
Besides being able to remove a hook more cleanly from a fish, the same applies to your own skin.
Imagine having a hook lodged in your finger, with a flopping fish still on the other end of the lure. Without barbs, those hooks would slide right out. With a barb, not so much. I’ve experienced this briefly just once. Thank God the barb only penetrated me very shallowly. So, the hook tore right back out when the fish shook. Other such close calls have recently won me over to being a barb-free fan.
6. Less Snagged Equipment
Besides the more important issues discussed above, it’s also a pain to deal with hook barbs when it comes to them hanging on everything. I’ve had to dig them out of my clothes, tackle bags, boat carpet, fish nets, and minnow nets.
7. Legal Requirements
Let’s be honest, there are always going to be anglers who aren’t a fan of barbless hooks. For those guys, there is still sometimes a good reason to use barb free hooks – because it’s the law! Certain fisheries, particularly trout streams, sometimes have requirements that barbless hooks are mandated.
In cases where they are required by law, you’ll want to be sure the barb is really mashed down good. Supposedly a game ward will sometimes insert the hook into their shirt to confirm it doesn’t grab when coming back out. That requires a high level of smashing!
Negatives Of Barbless Hooks
As you might imagine, smashing hook barbs does come with downsides.
- Losing Fish
- Bait Doesn’t Stay On Hook As Well
- It’s A Hassle
1. Losing A Fish
The most obvious potential negative is that you’re more likely to lose a hooked fish. I know some guys argue against that, but I personally do think you lose more fish. I suppose it probably depends on the species, as to how big of an issue this really is.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of barbless. I believe that with proper fish fighting technique, most species are handled quite well without relying on a barb.
When using barbless hooks, it’s even more important to not give a fish any slack during the fight.
2. Baits Won’t Stay On The Hook As Well
One of the scenarios where I do like keeping the barb in place is when fishing with natural bait. Whether live or dead, a barb helps pin a natural bait to the hook better. This is especially important when fishing with live bait.
3. It Can Be A Hassle
Depending on the size of your hook, it can be a bit of a hassle to bend down, or remove hook barbs. It’s not as big of a deal for tiny fly fishing hooks, but larger hooks can have very strong barbs that take significant effort to remove.
How To Smash Hook Barbs
- Hemostats
- Pliers
- Hook Files
There are several ways to remove hook barbs. Depending on the size of your hook, you can use hemostats, pliers, or a hook file to bend, or file it away.
For small fly fishing hooks, you don’t need much effort to accomplish the task. Simply use a strong pair of forceps to pinch and twist the barb down smooth. For larger hooks, you may need to use a pair of pliers, or even a fish hook file to get rid of the barb.
Conclusion
If you’re confident that you’ll only be catch and release fishing, it’s typically a good idea to smash your hook barbs. A barbless hook is much better for both you and the fish.
You never know when you might deeply hook yourself by accident. Imagine having to force a large hook deeper into your palm so that you can cut the barb end off. Yikes!
Augustus Clay
If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in my writeup on the 3 Reasons You Should Use Circle Hooks.
