barbless hooks........info and results...

i'd just like a bit of feedback re barbless hooks.
i've made a few traces and demolished the barbs for easy release of
fish.
i always do my best to c&r! whiting and small dabs come to mind!

i reckon tension after strike will be enough to land a fish and then return,
especially with small bass, rare codling etc,
any thoughts,tips....?
next trip will be barbless!
Thomas

would be interested in the results.

i would say that it depends on the light and sea conditions too - e.g landing fish at night in heavy surf can be tricky enough to keep the tension on. anyways, good luck...

i've been using circle hooks a lot over the last few months and they're great for CPR too. However, once your fingers go numb with cold, putting worm baits on takes a bit of effort...

it cant do any harm, as far as whiting goes i think the main reason they perish is due to bad handling of which we are guilty of, their very fragile even the most delicate of release will probaly kill them. a barbless hook is something thats not going to correct that. personally i think barbless hooks are kinda flawed where they will be easy to remove is most often the same case for a standard hook. if a fish takes either hook down deep there both a b!tch to remove without doing some damage

I tried it .its not great and i lost alot of fish on the surface

for spinning it can be great craic if youve got your drag right and your watching the takes - takes a bit of timing to get it right to keep your tension on the fish so they dont spit the hook

it is much better if your using lures with trebles in my opinion - especially large lures with 2 sets of trebles

its much easier to handle the fish and unhook them especially if your planning to relase them - the barbs on trebles rehook very easily when your trying to unhook a 2 treble hook lure

i use barbless flyfishing all te time you will allways have to be incontact with the fish as surf fish haveing contact on the fish is easyer said than done

a crushed barb is a good option. it gives an element of hold similar to a barb but is easier to remove. used them a lot like this course fishing. kinder on the fish particularly if they are only hooked on the lip. definately minimises damage although i agree somewhat with Eric.