CyberAngler

Got a little fish hook story for you. I don't "lip" fish any more because of a close call with a fishing lure. Some times I net the fish, but mostly just reach down with my Boga-Grip and land them that way. Those Boga -Grip tools and others like it keep the fingers a safe distance from sharp hooks. (they also hold the fish closer to the camera so it looks bigger in your pictures) Now in fly fishing, all my hooks are barbless. Makes it easy to unhook a fish as well as unhooking my hat, shirt, or ear. <grin> I even bent down the barbs on all my bass lures.

Well, the other day my son reached down to "lip" a big peacock bass and got a treble hook through the index finger. The guy fishing with him was able to cut the hook off the crank bait. They then pushed the hook the rest of the way through and cut it so it could pass on through and out. A little alcohol wipe and a band aid.......... he kept on fishing. Thank goodness I had a first aid kit, wire cutters, and a good pair of pliers in the boat.

Needless to say....... for the rest of the day Chris checked every lure and used the pliers to bend down all the barbs on every hook. He then netted the fish, and used the Boga-Grip to hold the fish while he used the "long-nose" pliers to unhook the lure.

"Learn from others mistakes, you'll never live long enough to make them all yourself." LOL

Aloha,
Stan

There are studies that show that barbless hooks may actually increase catches.The amount of force required to sink a hook past the barb is so great that the hook doen`nt bury in until the fish is directly below the rod tip.Offshore Captains have noted that ftsh brought to the boat show no sign of injury until the mate exerts more pressure pulling with the heavier leader.That is when they start to see blood coming from the fish`s head out the gills.Ande line is now endorsing the use of barbless hooks to cut down on cryptic mortality in released fish.The controversy will continue for a long time,but my hooks don`t carry barbs anymore.I was a commercial fisherman and have been the victim of some really painful accidents with barbed Salmon hooks.I`ve had a few slight problems with the barbless ones too.Losing fish?Well,that is why we say "tight lines and good fishing."