Barbless?

[fuzzy2u]

Does anybody use barbless hooks in the interest of minimizing injury to musky? I do this for other species, but figure I need all the help I can get for musky.

[strike_zone]

This topic has been discussed many times. Fact is, barbless does make it easier to extract hooks from fish (or anglers), BUT, big hooks without a barb will still rip up fish if your drag is too tight. Also, the biggest problem with going barbless is that the larger hooks (6/0 and bigger) can actually do more damage because of the level of penetration they achieve without the barbs. This is a personal decision you have to make yourself.

For me, the barbs stay as I have too many baits with 6/0 to 10/0 hooks that could do a lot of damage.

Steve Wickens

[guideman]

I gave barbless hooks a try a couple of
years ago...They worked ok, unless the
fish went airborn, I lost several while
they were in the air....It was just to easy for them to throw the hooks, with
no barbs on them.