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De-barbing your hooks will make things easier for fish and fisher alike.
A recent public fishing event showcased the importance of barbless hooks. Most of the participating youth and adults had little or no experience fishing. The results were predictable: many fish were hooked well after they took the bait, and no nearby bush or tree was safe! However, by the end of the event, every single fish was released alive, and nearly all were unhooked and released within seconds of being landed. The barbless hooks rigged for the event get the credit for both the high survival rate of the fish and a smooth fish handling experience for the participants.
Barbless hooks make life easier for experienced anglers as well, especially those with limited time who prefer to be making their next cast to extracting a deeply embedded barbed hook. It's especially important to use barbless hooks for bait fishing, where a hook might get swallowed deeply. With few exceptions, most baits will stay in place on de-barbed hooks. Circle hooks (including barbless circle hooks) are also an excellent alternative and provide good results with most fish usually hooked in the corner of the mouth. For smaller fish like bream, a de-barbed Aberdeen hook works well because the long shank is easy to grab and remove with fingers or pliers.
Bigger lures with multiple treble hooks are also prime candidates for de-barbing. If a fish does become fouled by a lure (such as a three-trebled minnow imitation, a favorite for bass), it’s much easier to “untangle” than it would be with barbs preventing hook points from being removed.
For de-barbing your hooks, use a small pair of needle-nosed pliers. If you can find a pair with a flat, non-serrated surface, that seems to work a bit better at mashing barbs entirely flat.
One of the few potential drawbacks of going barbless is the possibility of more lost fish that throw the hook. Keeping a tight line will reduce most such losses. In fact, the “big fish” from another youth fishing event was a four-pound bass landed on a tiny, barbless #8 Aberdeen after a several-minute battle. The inexperienced angler kept the line tight by reeling like crazy, drag slipping, the entire time — but he got his fish to shore. So be willing to take a lesson from the inexperienced: de-barb those hooks, for you and for the fish!
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