Author Topic: Barb or no Barb???  (Read 3556 times)

Offline adkbrookie

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Barb or no Barb???
« on: Feb 28, 2006, 09:07 PM »
while jigging perch and painfish i currently leave the barb on all of my hooks. i am wondering wether or not it is a good idea to fish without barbs. that way you could just lay the fish on the ice, let the line slack, the fish comes off, and you get your bait back to the school faster. i have heard that is what many of the people who sell perch from Lake Champlian do. however at times the fish become stuck under the ice near the hole, the other jiggs catching in the ice. then you have to let the line go slack to free the jiggs from the ice. i have noticed that these fish that get stuck also tend to be the larger ones. i tend tward the belief that the fish would get away in this situtation.

so, is it better to lose the barbs and a few fish or keep the barbs and slow myself down. any advice, experience, opinions, or guidance would be great.

thanks and tight lines.
"If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business."  - Sparse Grey Hackle

"I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty stillness embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation." - Ed Abbey

Offline fiesty

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #1 on: Mar 01, 2006, 05:57 PM »
go barbless when they're smoking....go back to barbs when they slow down...to make it a little easier getting em off the hook with or without barbs, bend the shaft of the hook out a bit...makes it easier to hook em, and easier to rip the hook outta em....
It's all about Karma.....

Offline adkbrookie

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #2 on: Mar 14, 2006, 04:00 PM »
allright the conclusions from my test are: if in doubt leave the barbs on.

the thicker the ice the more often the hooks will catch in the ice. the smaller the hole the less the fish has to swim horizontally to get the hooks stuck. fishing ~ a 10 in. hole (not mine, just abandon ones) the hooks rarely get stuck with a moderate amout of ice. with a 5 in. hole the hooks get stuckmore often. and with 2 ft. of ice and ~ an 8 in. hole the hooks also get stuck surprisingly often. the thickness of the ice seems to make more of a difference than hole size.

i would only take the barb off the top jig most of the time. and if you play the fish more before you get it to the hole you can bring it straight up, without the hooks catching. if you are going to fish on barbs, play the fish out more. works surprisingly well with barbs too.

if you are haveing trouble getting the hooks out of your perch, give them a second. they usually puff themselves up and flare their gill plates. then just pinch the plates, the mouth pops open and you can usually get even a barbed hook out easily w/ gloves. not all do this however.

i hope that all of this helps someone besides myself.
tight lines. 
 
"If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business."  - Sparse Grey Hackle

"I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty stillness embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation." - Ed Abbey

grumpymoe

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #3 on: Mar 22, 2006, 07:45 PM »
having fished barbless with provincial regulations for quite a number years......and raised on barbed.....I tend to look at it this way...in the hands of an experienced angler, barbless makes no difference other than being able to remove the hook without damaging the fish or holding it out of the water longer than needed if you plan to release......and for the ones that you tenuously hope to land......if it was meant to be.....so be it....and if not.....more power to the fish....Grump

Offline buzzbomb

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #4 on: Mar 23, 2006, 07:19 AM »
Pulling a barbed hook out of a perch's mouth often results in the swim bladder expanding even if you've brought him up carefully.  I'd say even if you use barbs regularly, consider bending them down when fishing in water over 15 - 20' deep.
The problem with quotes on the internet is that they're difficult to prove.
Abraham Lincoln, 1866

Offline Hood

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #5 on: Mar 23, 2006, 07:33 AM »
Pulling a barbed hook out of a perch's mouth often results in the swim bladder expanding even if you've brought him up carefully.  I'd say even if you use barbs regularly, consider bending them down when fishing in water over 15 - 20' deep.

??? just curious about how a barbed hook affects the swim bladder....

Offline adkbrookie

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #6 on: Mar 23, 2006, 09:49 AM »
??? just curious about how a barbed hook affects the swim bladder....
"If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business."  - Sparse Grey Hackle

"I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty stillness embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation." - Ed Abbey

Offline Water Wolf

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #7 on: Mar 23, 2006, 01:30 PM »
Most of the lakes I fish in are barbless, it's true you can loose a few more fish on barbless but if you keep pressure on them they hold well and barbless hooks tend to sink deeper. :)

Barbless hooks are also easier to remove from a finger hand or head. :P

WW
Looking for that BIG BITE!


Offline adkbrookie

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #8 on: Mar 23, 2006, 02:26 PM »
it is a lot easier to remove barbless hooks, whether it be from yourself, your friend, or the fish ::). chucking beadheads in a cross-wind can get very interesting.
i'm not that worried about hooking myself or someone else on the ice. you not casting or freeing a snag.
if you fish a 5 in. hole through over a ft. of ice in less than 10 fow then you will have problems w/ the upper jigs getting stuck in the ice and wish you had barbs at times if the fish like to fight at all.
"If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business."  - Sparse Grey Hackle

"I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty stillness embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation." - Ed Abbey

Offline Hood

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #9 on: Mar 23, 2006, 04:37 PM »
chucking beadheads in a cross-wind can get very interesting.

amen to that!

Offline buzzbomb

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Re: Barb or no Barb???
« Reply #10 on: Mar 25, 2006, 08:09 AM »
??? just curious about how a barbed hook affects the swim bladder....
I think it's just the shock of having it pulled.... even when the fish has been brought up slowly, everything looks fine, then when I pull the hook out, pfffft, it's now a keeper.  Barbless go in and come out easier.  If I can tell it's just a tiny one I'll even slow my retrieve right down and give slack line so it has a chance to get off.
The problem with quotes on the internet is that they're difficult to prove.
Abraham Lincoln, 1866

 



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