# LL - Barbless Hooks



## GaryI (Mar 18, 2015)

Some years ago I had the pleasure of taking my son fishing and camping in the Quetico area of Canada, just north of the Boundary Waters canoe area of northern Minnesota. The Canadian side had just outlawed barbed hooks and many of the fishermen were in an uproar over it. But I just squished down my barbs, and for five consecutive years we fished there with no barbs and really didn't see any disadvantage to it. In addition to getting the fish off the lures easier and with less damage to the fish, I also could fish without the fear of embedding a barbed hook in my flesh a two day's paddle from civilization.

So last week, in the evening after a whole day of laboring to remove the treble hooks from the mouths of hundreds of LL white bass, I started thinking back to those Quetico days. I decided to do an experiment and I squished down the barbed hooks on one of my slabs. That was Sunday night. Since then, the wind has been up and I haven't been out fishing. By the time I went out fishing again today, I had forgotten that I had squished down the barbs on that slab. But after catching and easily releasing the first 20 fish, it hit me - I'm not using barbs! I'm not really noticing any difference in the number of landed fish, except that once they are landed, they are a WHOLE lot easier to take off. Especially when they inhale the slab and perform the trick of embedding each of the three trebles inside of their mouth. I spent more time fishing today and less time trying to take them off of the hook. Also, the fish were in better shape when I released them, although that is really only a side benefit given the huge numbers of WB in this lake. As long as I kept tension on the line, I didn't lose any fish that i noticed. I don't see a downside of fishing LL for white bass with barbless hooks. Even if I lose a fish or two, it's not like there isn't about 1,000 more to catch and make up for it.

Tonight I went ahead and squished down the barbs on all of my lures. I'll let you know how it works out. Perhaps some time in the next few years it will save me from an ER visit as well.

Gary


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Several years back I used to file the barbs off when fishing for whites. Still had good success catching whites. I need to get back to filing the barb off. Saturday morning I put a good size treble hook in the side of my thumb and then it turned under the nail. No ER just old fashion DIY. Hurt really bad coming out. The barb hung up on my nail and had to force it out. As you mentioned the barbless hooks will release really easy and quick. More time to catch more and also you don't kill as many fish.

Thanks for posting this. I am now working on several lures for this weekend. Barbless !!


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## stickman (Apr 17, 2012)

When I first started fishing WB on Livingston I had a friend who showed me the ropes. One trick that he did was completely cut off one of the hooks on his triple hook. He seemed to out fish me every time.


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

I have done this a few times in the past and didn't notice any ill effects as long as I kept tension on my line. I got one of the teaser hooks last week myself. Thankfully it was in a fat part of my hand where I could get it out. I didn't venture out today, the wind was pretty salty here at the Marina today.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

Back when I used for fish for whites a lot, and caught a lot, I often used pliers to press the barbs down. This is similar to my suggestion to remove the back hook on Rat-L-Traps when fishing for whites.


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## GT11 (Jan 1, 2013)

I press my barbs down also. It does make it easier to remove the hook and does less damage to the fish. If you keep your line tight, you won't loose the fish.


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## GaryI (Mar 18, 2015)

After seeing this thread, Ducktracker went out, bought a bunch of barbless hooks, and made a bunch of white, 3/4 oz. slabs. I took him out fishing today to give the new slabs a try. Man, did that ever make a difference compared to my squished down barbs! Each treble looks like it consists of three needlelike ends, but when you feel the end of the hook it actually has a few tiny notches in it. As a result, the hook end penetrates the fishes mouth easily but still seems to stay embedded until you want to remove the hook, in which case it pulls out without any effort. It didn't quite make sense to me but it worked like a charm. I was ready to buy all that he made from him, but when I found out that Loy was next in line, I moderated my purchase a bit. But I told Johnny that I want to buy a bunch more of them, including some larger sizes like 1 and 1.5 oz.

Also, he outfished me something fierce, but let's not talk about that right now. I included a picture of him holding a nice fish with his barbless slab.

Gary


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

GaryI said:


> I was ready to buy all that he made from him, but when I found out that Loy was next in line, I moderated my purchase a bit.
> Gary


I was going to green you for leaving some for ShadSlinger Loy to buy, but 2Cool says I must spread first.


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

We have been calling the Ducktracker slab rip a lip, now we will call them Slip A Lip  They do catch the whites


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## Little Mac (Apr 29, 2015)

Alright Johnny your gonna have to show me how those work this weekend


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## Ducktracker (Aug 1, 2011)

It was such a pleasure going out with you Gary again on the maiden voyage of my new Mr. G Slip a lip slabs. They preformed way better than I could imagine . It was you that gave me the great ideal. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## BigBuck (Mar 2, 2005)

*Barbes*

Barbs are used to hold bait in place. Keep pressure on the fish, barbless lures will work great. Been fishing for trout many years with barbless flies.
BB


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## ccketchum (Oct 18, 2010)

started this back in the early '90's , while catfishing with my kids . didn't notice any less fish comeing aboard . ground the barbs off with one of those hook sharpener/line remover doomaflickies .


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Dhcktrackers Lipper Slipper works good. I caught a lot of white bass and a 30" gou today with one.


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

I have used the lip ripper for a couple of weeks with great success, patiently waiting for my lipper slippers.


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