Having watched too many U tube videos of fisherman getting barbed hooks in their fingers. I am thinking it time to have barbless hooks on my lures. Also concerned about hooking my dog while fishing in a canoe, haven’t fished with him in a canoe because of this.
What’s the best way of going about. I have search for barbless treble hooks and found them to be costly. Do you just pinch the barb down or try grinding them off?

Thanks
Carl

I just pinch them down with a pair of needle nose pliers. I do this to all of my crankbaits, top waters, etc. I don’t pre-pinch jig hooks. If I’m in the Quetico I pinch them when I tie them on.

Just pinch them down. I've had a couple of incidents and barbless is the way to go for me.

I always pinch down the barbs on my lures...



...easier to remove without the barbs. That’s been my experience.

Thanks. Ouch!!
Carl

We had an incident as well last year and started pinching them down. We target mostly smallmouth and didn’t seem to miss more fish because of it. It also makes a deep hook set on a bass a breeze to remove without hurting the fish.

Pinching barbs down (on small hooks the barb will often break off when squeezed with a pliers) helps but you can still have a hard time getting hooks out, especially with larger hooks (ask me how I know). Grinding the barbs off or replacing with barbless hooks is better.

I’ve pinched some, but a while back I just sat down one Saturday morning with a Dremel tool and ground the barbs off of about 20 of my favorite lures. It seams a lot cleaner.

I like the idea of using the dremel to grind them down. I’ve been in the canoe and tried to pinch them down and broke the hook—which is frustrating.

Another nice thing is with kids when they hook clothing or the life vest your don’t waste valuable fishing time trying to get the hook out.

T

This will be my first year trying barbless after a bad injury last year. I set out searching for barbless replacements and quickly realized that’d be quite costly. Makes a lot more sense to pinch or grind and then if needed replace with a barbed hook in the future.

Good call on the dremel as well. I’ve started to pinch but sometimes it’s not perfect and I think grinding will leave the smoothest surface with nothing to catch.

I spend more time in Quetico than the BWCA, until last year, so I’ve been pinching down the hook with a pliers for years. As you may know Quetico has required barbless hooks for a while now. And it makes for easy removal from the fish, or me (see my previous comment in this thread). Anyway, I have only broke off the tip on one hook so far. That said, I only do this on treble hooks on lures, however, if you Google “how to properly pinch the barb on a fish hook” you get some videos, including how to do this on a fly hook, that show you how to do this. That’s easier than me trying to explain here....if a picture is with a thousand words then a video must be worth a million. The key is to lay the barb flat and twist the hook shank with your fingers. The barb will either snap right off or get pinched tightly against the bend. Easy to do in the field.

It's a good idea to know how to remove a hook if someone does accidentally get hooked. There are numerous YouTube videos that show an easy, painless method. It works great but it's a good idea to follow up with some antibiotic ointment and a dressing. I had one person get hooked in my boat in the first 30 years I owned a boat and then my BIL hooked himself 3 times in two days on a semi-remote Ontario trip. Popped the hook out, applied some antibiotic, covered with a BandAid and we all went back to fishing.

The key is to keep downward pressure on the hook eye and pop it out quick. here's one video (warning, graphic).

The "string method" is what the urgent care people finally got to work after an hour of prying at mine. I can barely think about it without getting queezy.

thegildedgopher: "The "string method" is what the urgent care people finally got to work after an hour of prying at mine. I can barely think about it without getting queezy."

The longer a hook is buried in you the harder it is to get it out. It's like the muscle tightens and clenches the hook.

One note I should add is that the string method works when the point is still buried. If the point is exposed, cut the hook.

Thanks for all the reply’s and stories. I am going to use barbless hooks especially when I go solo. I bought a Dremel today and going to start working though my lures, any excuse to buy more tools is a good one.

Carl

Another Dremel advocate...all barbless for me. This way I can just tell my wife they are piercings when I come back from a trip.

For you Dremel users, I've found the 1 1/2" cutoff wheels work well, better than a grinding bit. I don't know if you can get a wheel smaller than 1 1/2" but 1" or 1 1/4" would be nice.

My daughter calls fishing lures jewelry. We raised her right!
Carl

Adam while I am sad that happened to you I would very much like to hear the full story. I recall the brief version. I'll buy the first beer or two to even things out ;)

I've found the small conical grinding wheel also works well for the Dremel. I usually try to touch up the hooks with a sharpener prior to use. I tend to roll the Dremel over the points occasionally which dulls the hooks.
Going barbless is a necessary self-defense mechanism for me.

HistoryDoc: "I've found the small conical grinding wheel also works well for the Dremel."

I angle the wheel and run it from just behind the point toward the bend. The cutting wheel edge takes off the barb and the underside of the wheel smooths out the rough area where the barb was. I did some new jigheads and getting the jigs out of the package took longer than the barb cutting. Some hooks have a point that curves back toward the shank and I use the stone on those. Have you found a particular stone and technique that works well for you?

Just a generic hand hook sharpener I got, I think at Bass Pro. If I remember, I try to give the hooks a lick when I tie on a new lure.

Grinding them off is a good winter project. A certain hospital in Northern WI knows me well. Had a bad run of years with a number of family members hooking me...was it something I said?

HistoryDoc: "Just a generic hand hook sharpener I got, I think at Bass Pro. If I remember, I try to give the hooks a lick when I tie on a new lure."

I meant for de-barbing but thanks.

WIMike: "It's a good idea to know how to remove a hook if someone does accidentally get hooked. There are numerous YouTube videos that show an easy, painless method. It works great but it's a good idea to follow up with some antibiotic ointment and a dressing. I had one person get hooked in my boat in the first 30 years I owned a boat and then my BIL hooked himself 3 times in two days on a semi-remote Ontario trip. Popped the hook out, applied some antibiotic, covered with a BandAid and we all went back to fishing.

The key is to keep downward pressure on the hook eye and pop it out quick. here's one video (warning, graphic).

"

I do a push down on the eye and push down on the top of the loop and the push from the eye and out.

I think the secret is to jus to do it without thinking about thinking it too much.

I learned the string jerk method from an MD when I worked at a Scout camp and have dreaded for decades ever having to try it for the first time.

I just pulled up some YouTube videos to have another look and saw a brilliant idea. A doc showing how it worked using a pigs foot as the patient. It seems like the tissue should be about the same as a human, so this seems like a great way to practice this technique. I think I’ll pick one up next time I see one at the store, practice a half dozen times, then let my dogs have a feast.

I use a small leathermen and pinch them. If my lures have bigger treble hooks then I'll take a small file to smooth them out.

I've had the string jerk method performed on me. It worked but it was not fun. I started going to Quetico where barbless hooks are required, and I use a 1/4" diameter straight or "rectangular" not round not conical dremel grinding wheel, to take the barbs off all my trebles. It makes it easier to get the fish off, get the lure out of the net, get the lure out of my clothes, get the lure out of my gloves, get the lure out of my skin. I've had several puncture wounds over the years that would have been a helluva lot worse if there were barbs on those hooks! I find that grinding them off is a lot better than pinching, especially when dealing with nets and clothes. With treble hooks, I don't see that I lose any more fish going barbless than if they were barbed. Now, where legal, I leave the barbs on single hook jigheads, because you will find that smallmouth especially, can throw a barbless jig head back at you about 80% of the time.

Joe

timatkn: "I like the idea of using the dremel to grind them down. I’ve been in the canoe and tried to pinch them down and broke the hook—which is frustrating.


Another nice thing is with kids when they hook clothing or the life vest your don’t waste valuable fishing time trying to get the hook out.


T"

You also don't have valuable clothing with a little hole or a run in it!

I just pinch the barbs. In my experience we didn't seem to have a problem with northern and walleye but seemed to lose more smallmouth because they like to shake their heads when hooked.
My method to remove hooks is to give my leatherman to my friend, turn my head and he jerks it out! He doesn't seem to be shy or remorseful jerking it out for some reason. It's actually very painless.

joewildlife: "I've had the string jerk method performed on me. It worked but it was not fun. I started going to Quetico where barbless hooks are required, and I use a 1/4" diameter straight or "rectangular" not round not conical dremel grinding wheel, to take the barbs off all my trebles. It makes it easier to get the fish off, get the lure out of the net, get the lure out of my clothes, get the lure out of my gloves, get the lure out of my skin. I've had several puncture wounds over the years that would have been a helluva lot worse if there were barbs on those hooks! I find that grinding them off is a lot better than pinching, especially when dealing with nets and clothes. With treble hooks, I don't see that I lose any more fish going barbless than if they were barbed. Now, where legal, I leave the barbs on single hook jigheads, because you will find that smallmouth especially, can throw a barbless jig head back at you about 80% of the time.


Joe
"

Curious to hear your reasoning on dremel tool selection? The wheel worked great for me.

I'm not sure I described the dremel attachment very well.

the grinding part of it is a cylinder, not 1/4" in diameter, maybe 3/4" long.

I like it because it fits well in the bend of the hook and can take the barb off without touching the sharp tip of the hook.

It leaves no sharp edges that may still exist with a mashed barb. It doesn't take much of an edge to grap on clothes, gloves, net, etc.

when I'm done the barb is nonexistent and the hook is like a safety pin.
Joe

It would take me all winter to remove the all the barbs on my hooks. I’ll gamble with the barbs. When I have used barbless hooks I just used a Leatherman to crimp the barbs.

joewildlife: "I'm not sure I described the dremel attachment very well.


the grinding part of it is a cylinder, not 1/4" in diameter, maybe 3/4" long.


I like it because it fits well in the bend of the hook and can take the barb off without touching the sharp tip of the hook.


It leaves no sharp edges that may still exist with a mashed barb. It doesn't take much of an edge to grap on clothes, gloves, net, etc.


when I'm done the barb is nonexistent and the hook is like a safety pin.
Joe



"

Gotcha. Cylinder makes sense. “Rectangle” had me scratching my head!


SV— For now I’ve ground down a good selection of different stuff for various species in the BWCA. Personally my plan is to move these 50-ish barbless hooks onto different baits as needed. I can change a treble quickly.

Savage Voyageur: "It would take me all winter to remove the all the barbs on my hooks. "

With a Dremel and a 1 1/2” cutting wheel I did my entire inventory, except my musky lures, in just a few nights as I watched fishing videos on YouTube. I keep lures in my boat, two fishing yaks, a backpack for shore fishing and a reserve supply in the basement so I have more lures than some bait shops. I found a good method that allowed me to do a 3600 tray packed full of Rapalas with three treble hooks in about 20 minutes. It’s tedious but goes quickly once you find the rhythm.

BigDadE: "We had an incident as well last year and started pinching them down. We target mostly smallmouth and didn’t seem to miss more fish because of it. It also makes a deep hook set on a bass a breeze to remove without hurting the fish. "

Switched to barbless like 15 years ago. Lose very few more fish as long as you keep the line tight. Also so what if you lose 1 or two more fish. Little more of a sporting challenge. Like it when I get a 30 inch lake trout and bring it into the net and the hook falls out. Tip the net over and fish is free often.

Yes hooks come out of my skin much easier also