Mille lacs- Barbless hooks - night ban ?

[Walleye daddy]

Anyone hear if the Dnr has made a decision on the proposed night ban barbless hook issue yet ??

[David Anderson]

Pretty quiet considering the sword rattling going on a few weeks ago.
Just talked to a friend who guides and although fishing is slowed, his take of slot fish has improved considerably.

[hugh albrecht]

I have to show my ignorance here and in no way intend to start an argument. But, is there significant opposition to going barbless and, if so, why. Wouldn't barbless hooks cut down on fish mortality. Thanks in advance for the education.

[Walleye daddy]

Don't know, just read an article the other day in the outdoor news that the dnr and tribe has been negotiating a deal pertaining to the overharvest #'s on the lake. This was a prposal by the Dnr. Steve F. posted earlier that they might have a decision on this by today. So if Steve reads this maybe he can let us know. Need to know if my night time trolling is over for the year.

[stevefellegy]

I've been on the water all day but see zero e-mails or press releases sent to me relative to the latest Minn. DNR proposal. As of last night, officially, there had not been an answer from the bands, to the DNR proposal submitted late last week. Only a gut feeling....but IF they, (the bands), accept a form of this barbless hook/night ban, I would they think they will insist on a full fledged night ban from now throughout the winter.(sundown to sun-up) Again....I emphasize....this is ONLY a wild guess by me based on nothing. For the sake of the winter businesses, I pray I'm wrong. Time will tell...hopefully sooner than later.

[Walleye daddy]

Thanks Steve: I also hope your gut feeling is wrong. The late Summer - Early fall is my favorite time on Mille lacs. Keep us posted

[mmillelacs]

can you even buy a crankbait with barbless hooks??

[SUPERTROLLER]

Good question. Do they make barbless treble hooks that you could replace the barbed hooks on your cranks? Or would everyone have to just pinch down the barbs on the hooks they use?

[Walleye daddy]

I know a lot of Canadian lakes have barbless rules. Maybe some of our Canadian friends can help us with that question

[Jeff B]

You use a needle nose pliers to crimp the barbs flat to the shank. This is whats we do in Manitoba and it makes you legal and works fine

[bigfish1965]

We can do either here on barbless lakes. Bend them down or use the proper hooks to begin with. But if you are bending them down, you have to do it real good. We usually just file them right off while we are sharpening the hooks. If you go barbless, go to a thinner hook. It will be less likely to tear a big hole and dislodge. Honestly, there isn't much difference in the catch rate with the barbless. Bass are the only thing I found hard to keep on a barbless...they jump and see ya.

[Pooch]

For years I've used a dremel tool with the cutoff disk to take the barbs off of trebles. I try to remove the barb but leave the slight "hump" where the barb was raised from the hook when made. While doing that I like to remove one hook from each treble. I don't think I see much if any difference in lost fish. Maybe lose a northern at the boat now and then but that's not all bad! Saves handling them. Usually can give them slack and they will shake it every time.

Having removed hooks from hands has made me a believer in barbless. Just pull them out and keep fishing.

Pooch

[Leechboy]

What indicates that the proposal is a barbless look/night ban solution? Has someone been a part of the negotiations or seen the proposal drafts? Just looking for insight and trying to sort fact from fiction.-lb

[Schnauzer]

I don't want to speak for others but here is why the barbless/night ban bugs me...

First, the night ban is a much bigger deal than the barbless part of this situation. Personally, the fall full moon and other night trips on Mille Lacs are my favorite fishing outings of the year.

As far as a potential barbless regulation - it would just be a pain to be switching back and forth considering all the other lakes in the state do not have a barbless requirement... especially on crank baits which is the main method of fall fishing on Mille Lacs.

Also, this is being done to curtail hooking mortality which is a joke considering nothing was done when fish were actually dying during the hot summer months when they were being pulled up from 30+ feet. Now this knee jerk reaction to save gut hooked fish which happen to be biting crank baits in sub-50-degree 10 feet deep water? It just seems to have the distinct odor of a political sell out.