A Complete Guide to Barbless Hooks and Why to Use Them

One of my greatest fears when fishing with my children is that one of them will inadvertently catch themselves with a barbed treble hook. I’ve had to remove several from Dad because he insists on carrying crankbaits in a plastic bag in his pocket. He takes it like a champ, but I’m not sure my five-year-old fishing buddy would. So far, I’ve managed this risk by avoiding it. I simply don’t use lures with treble hooks when fishing with kids. I could, however, consider an alternative and fish with barbless hooks instead.

If you’ve ever wondered if barbless hooks are better, or if there are certain times you should use a barbless hook instead of a barbed one, read on. I’ll discuss the differences as well as the pros and cons of each to help you make a decision. Whether you’re considering them for conservation purposes or safety considerations, this article will have something for you.

What’s the Difference Between Barbed and Barbless Hooks?

A barbed hook has a backwards facing point, or barb, in addition to the main point. This acts almost as a lock, as it prevents a hook from easily falling out from the hole it created on the way into a fish’s mouth. A barbless hook lacks this backward facing point, or barb, so it only has the main point. You can purchase barbless hooks or make your own. Any barbed hook can be turned into a barbless one by filing down the barb. Some anglers suggest leaving a little “lump” in place of the barb for a bit of peace of mind, though I’d argue this is likely placebo and isn’t likely to help much.

What Does a Barbless Hook Look Like?

It might help to have a visual of what a barbless hook looks like in comparison to a barbed one. See the photo below. The hook on the right has the traditional barb. The hook on the left is barbless. That’s all there is to it – one looks like a spear and the other looks like a halberd. Note that these are the same hook, but I pinched the barb on the one on the left down with pliers.

Do You Lose More Fish with Barbless Hooks?

Because the whole point of barbless hooks is to allow them to be removed easier, it stands to reason that you can lose more fish with barbless hooks than barbed ones. There’s just that much less holding the fish on the hook, and if they manage to create slack by jumping or thrashing, you can lose them.

Tips for Landing Fish on Barbless Hooks

No one wants to lose fish, so it can be hard to convince people to try barbless hooks. However, it’s not that hard to keep a fish on a barbless hook. You just need to keep tension on the line. If you keep constant pressure on the fish, they shouldn’t be able to throw the hook just because it doesn’t have a barb. If your line remains tight, there’s little danger in the fish throwing a barbless hook. Again, the issue is when the hook tries to back itself out, which cannot happen unless slack is introduced to the line.

Sometimes it’s helpful to look at a fishing hook like a grappling hook that you see thrown over the top of a building in the movies. When it snags, it does so because the line or rope pulling on it is tight, or taut. Now imagine if that line were suddenly dropped. The grappling hook would drop too, right? Fishing hooks (barbed or barbless) work the same way. It’s not as though a barbed hook is going to prevent this from happening, there’s just a little extra “insurance.” Thus, the simple practice of keeping pressure on the fish and the line taut at all times will reduce the number of fish lost when using barbless hooks.

Granted, with certain species (I’m looking at you, Mr. Smallmouth), keeping pressure on a fish is easier said than done. Still, the other benefits of barbless hooks make this a worthy effort.

Do Professional Fishermen Use These?

Yes and no. If you’re thinking of professional bass fishermen, there’s no rule in BASS or FLW that requires the use of barbless hooks and any angler chasing the big money in those tournaments won’t take a chance of losing a fish to use them. Interestingly though, many professional fisherman will use barbless hooks when they are pre-fishing, because they aren’t really interested in landing the fish and just want to shake them off.

Do Barbless Hooks Hurt Fish?

If fish feel pain (and studies suggest that they do), then a barbless hook isn’t going to help them, because you’re still jabbing them with a hook point. However, a barbed hook adds the complication that you might not be able to remove the hook quickly, thus prolonging the animal’s suffering. In short, yes, a barbless hook hurts fish too, but it won’t hurt them for as long as a barbed hook in most instances.

Are Barbless Hooks Actually Better for Fish?

I was truly expecting that I would be able to easily find overwhelming evidence that barbless hooks were better for fish. I couldn’t. Instead, I found this study on the effects of hook size and barbless hooks on fish injury, catch per unit effort, and fish size. The conclusions were pretty surprising. The best that the authors were willing to say is that barbless hooks decrease the amount of time it takes to release a fish. This, in theory, would also decrease fish mortality. However, they found that there was no decrease in bleeding, as that was entirely dependent on where the fish was hooked.

They also failed to find some great correlation in the decrease of fish mortality using barbless hooks. Instead, the greater issue was how deeply the fish was hooked. Those that were hooked deeper had a greater chance of dying. This led the authors to conclude that larger hooks (which were less likely to be taken deeply) were a better bet for reducing mortality.

What Should Be Used Instead?

Given the research above, if the primary reason you want to use a hook without a barbs is to reduce fish mortality, you might be going through much effort for little gain. Instead, consider using a circle hook. These hooks are much less likely to kill a fish. The reason is they are not “set” like traditional hook. Instead, they are meant to catch the edge of a fish’s mouth when reeled in.

Is It Illegal to Fish with Barbed Fishing Hooks?

While researching my article discussing whether treble hooks are illegal in all fifty states, I learned that there are several states that prohibit the use of fishing hooks with barbs in certain waters (usually trout streams). I learned that Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and West Virginia all have laws on the books requiring barbless hooks in certain situations. This almost always meant while fishing for a species the state was trying to protect, such as trout, salmon, or surgeon. Often, it was only for certain streams or brooks where these species are prevalent. Make sure you check local regulations if you are fishing for these species. You might have little choice but to leave your barbed hooks at home.

How to Make Barbless Hooks

While the list is growing longer every day, there are fewer barbless hooks out there than barbed hooks. That doesn’t really matter. Any hook can be made barbless. For smaller, weaker hooks simply pinch down the barb with a sturdy set of pliers. Stronger hooks can have their barb filed down.

An issue with doing this is that if your hook came coated with any special substance, such as one that reduces corrosion, you’ve just filed it off. While I wouldn’t have a second thought about filing down a day’s worth of hooks at home, I wouldn’t recommend sitting there going through an entire season’s worth at once. You might find that they start to rust long before you can use them. Granted, you can fish with rusty hooks, but why would you want to?

Are Barbless Hooks Better for Me?

Here’s a table of some of the pros and cons of barbless vs. barbed hooks. As you can see, there are advantages for both. I’d argue that barbless hooks are better if you want to release your catch, but barbed hooks hold the advantage if you actually want to catch a fish in the first place.

Type	PROS	CONS
Barbed hooks	-Less likely to lose fish. The barb acts as “insurance” that gives you a better chance of landing a fish, even if it thrashes. -Availability. There are far more numerous barbed hooks than barbless ones in all styles.	-Barbed hooks are fare more likely to injure fish, especially if they are gut hooked. -They are more difficult to remove from flesh following an errant cast. You might need to visit the emergency room. -Barbed hooks may be illegal depending on what you are fishing for, when and where.
Barbless hooks	-Barbless are safer for fish and are great if you intend to practice catch and release. -These hooks are also better when fishing with inexperienced anglers such as children. If an accident happens, it doesn’t need to end the day. -Penetrate deeper with less force given the lack of resistance from the barb.	-It can be more challenging to keep fish attached to a barbless hook. -The particular hook you want to use may not come barbless and you might need to crimp or file your own. -The research is mixed as to how much these hooks truly reduce mortality.

Should You Use Them With Kids?

You know, the reason I sat down to write this article is because I was considering if I should change up the hooks I use when I’m fishing with my kids. I don’t want them to get hooked in the first place, but if they do, I want to be able to get the hook out of them as quickly as possible.

Even so, I do need to balance that against one cold, hard fact. Fishing with children is a numbers game. You want to catch as many fish as possible, as quickly as possible. Having a fish escape, for whatever reason, is extremely undesirable. Everything that I’ve read about barbless hooks suggests that more fish will be lost with them. Taking that into consideration, I’m not so sure I’d recommend using them with kids.

On the other hand, if you want to fish crankbaits or something else with treble hooks, then barbless may be the way to go. Treble hooks are notoriously “sticky” in that they easily catch everything they shouldn’t. The last thing you need is for a kid to get jabbed. With three points on each shaft, I’d have more confidence using a barbless treble hook than a barbless single hook. Still, one of my main safety tips for fishing with kids remains to leave the crankbaits at home.

Conclusions

The type of fishing hooks you use are going to reflect your circumstances. If you’re mostly interested in landing a fish, chances are you’re going to want a barb. If you’re worried about hurting fish, you’ll prefer a hook without one. Finally, if you’re fishing an area where barbless hooks are required by law, you won’t have any choice!

So what do you think? Which fishing hooks is right for you? Leave me a comment below and tell me what you prefer!

Thanks everyone,

John Paxton