Barb or No Barb???

[littlerivermike]

Here is my follow-up the the keep or release question.

Since so many of you practice catch & release in the GSMNP waters - Do you fish barbless? *Do you "crimp" the barb on your fly hook before the first cast?

If you do - how does that practice effect the number of fish you land. *Do you lose some or alot more because you are fishing barbless?

Does your approach re "de-barbing" differ with dries and nymphs?

I almost always de-barb. *Sometimes I forget until I release that first fish. *On a few occassions (after not landing a fish after a dozen on) - I'll switch to a barbed hook for a while. *But 98% of the time - I flatten the barb. *At the end of the year - I don't think I missed that many fish because of the practice.

[brzbck]

I fish nothing but barbless or file down the barb, I found that sometimes bending down the barb can cause a fracture in the hook, and a good hook file will take them down quick.

As far as missing or loosing fish, I do not think that it makes a big difference, and if so, I'm usually 99% catch and release anyway, so I don't worry about it.

I know when I'm fishing for blue fish off Cape Cod, I always find it easier to release those "toothy" guys with a barbless hook, as well as the stripers. They pull so hard and seldom jump that the barb dosn't help anyway.

[David Knapp]

Always barbless for me. Do I lose some fish? Yes, but I really don't normally care except on the rare occasions that it happens over and over..... ::) Usually if I am losing fish, it is more my own fault being sloppy or something else that causes it.

David

[ccmmcc]

I almost always use barbless. Like a previous post, I sometimes forget to pinch down the barb until after I caught my first fish. Generally the fishing is so good that if I lose a fish because of a barbless hook it's not that big of a deal.