SERIOUS question: Why do fish hooks have barbs?

Before reading on, go ahead and answer it.

Done?

Most likely, your answer had something to do with the barb being there to stop the hook coming out of the fish after it’s hooked.

Unless you run set lines or commercial drop lines (and you don’t), you’d be wrong. In fact even if you do, you’d still be pretty much wrong, because that’s a circle hook business and they’re different anyway. The barb has nothing to do with the fish.

There are two reasons why fish hooks have barbs. The only good reason fish hooks have barbs, in the 21st century, is to stop the bait from coming off. Repeat for emphasis: The only good reason fish hooks have barbs is to stop the bait from coming off.

The other reason, which is not a good reason, is because hook manufacturers think people won’t buy barbless hooks. They’re right, too. So far. Unfortunately.

Oh, and there’s linked hooks, where the barb of one hook keeps it connected to the next hook. But there’s no reason to have a barb on the last hook in the gang.

The main good reasons for barbless hooks are obvious to everybody – they’re easier to get out of the fish, and they’re easier to get out of yourself. The less obvious good reason, but still up there, is that you catch more fish with barbless hooks, because they sink easier and deeper. There’s less resistance to the hook sliding in – heaps less – because the piece of metal you’re trying to pull in has a much smaller cross-section. And they’re also stronger, if the hook is made without a barb in the first place, because the metal isn’t sliced into to form a barb.

Most of the people I fish with only fish with barbless hooks. Some are downright pedantic about it, and good on them. Robert Vaughan’s Kimberley Fishing has a boat rule that no lure goes in the water with a barb still standing. Al Bevan’s Shikari Charters was the first time I’d seen the same rule laid down in metro waters. I’ve seen experienced guides unconsciously crushing the barbs on their clients’ lures while chatting about other things. For many who fish a lot, it has become a matter of course. So what’s stopping you?

Think about it: most of us fish with rods and line. It’s a sportfishing life, and part of being good and skilful at this sport is to keep a tight line to the fish. If you keep a tight line, there is no reason why a hook will fall out of the fish. Even if you don’t, because you have a barra doing the gill-rattling thing or a sailfish going beresk (and I do mean beresk) with no chance of the angler keeping up with the action, I can swear blind that my own experience says there is no more likelihood of a barbless hook coming adrift than there is of a barbed hook losing touch. If that kind of scenario really fazes you, best you start learning about singles on cord, but that’s another story.
There is no reason at all for anybody to use a barbed treble hook, yet you can’t buy a lure or a gang in Australia that comes ex-factory with a barbless treble on it. Shame. But at least it’s not as bad as it was 10 years ago; back then, you couldn’t even buy a barbless treble. At least now you can, and in fact you can buy quite a variety. It’s getting better. We have the Japanese hook company Owner to thank for that, and they’re gradually getting better at it too, but they still use barbed trebles on their own lures.

The treble that started the gradual change we’re now seeing was Owner’s flagship model Stinger 66 (a heavy-duty 4X-strong), which is mostly used for fish like mackerel, wahoo, trevally and barramundi. About eight years ago, Owner introduced a barbless version, now designated STBL-66 (it used to be ST-51). It was only available in sizes 2, 1, 1/0, 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 (size 2/0 is finally going to reach the market this year). For many applications, the Stinger 66 soon became accepted as the best treble in the world, and went a long way to making Owner recognised as ‘the’ brand in treble hooks. In Japan, Owner trebles have become the standard on quality minnows and poppers. All Shimano and Daiwa saltwater lures brought into Australia feature Owner trebles.

The next weight lighter in Owner’s barbless trebles, STBL-56, is a 3X-strong available in sizes 2, 1 and 1/0, arriving into Australia for the first time (apart from the samples I have) about now. That’s going to be a good tailor, queenfish, barramundi and small tuna hook. It’s a bit too limited a size range, and hopefully size 4 will also be added soon.

Owner’s STBL-41 is a medium-weight 2X-strong barbless treble, available in sizes 8, 6, 4 and 2. It’s a little light for most applications in size 2, but is nice on small minnows and poppers in the smaller sizes.

The lightest trebles generally in demand in Australia are available in barbless pattern STBL-31, only in sizes 6 and 8.

French hook maker VMC also market barbless trebles in Australia, but may have been ahead of their time; while their Permasteel trebles are widely respected and are used on Rapala lures and many other top brands, their barbless trebles have, unfairly, never reached prominence.

VMC’s heavy duty Permasteel barbless treble is the 3X-strong pattern 5626PS, available in sizes 6, 4, 2 and 1. It’s sold here as a ‘barra hook’, which is a fair call. It’s the right sort of size range for most barramundi lures. There’s also the lighter weight 9648, available in Permasteel or a freshwater bronzed finish, and down to a size 10.
All in, that’s a pretty good collection of barbless trebles. Yet only a handful of people are buying them. The bigger and heavier they are, the more popular they are, which comes about for a couple of logical reasons; heavy trebles with barbs are harder to get out of fish, and the barbs on heavy trebles are harder to crush down or file off. By the time you’re up to a 5/0, it’s a big hook in just about anybody’s book, and is used almost exclusively in catch-and-release fishing. There’s just no reason to make a barbed version, let alone use one.

So when I heard Owner were going to make a super-heavy-duty ST-76 treble, I got on to them to impress upon them my belief that they should only make a barbless version, and not do a barbed one at all. Due in this year in sizes 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 only, I stated my case that this was an ideal opportunity for them to lead the world and set a new standard. Stand out from the crowd. Do something that people will talk about. Don’t bow to the old school

Seize the day! Make it barbless only!

I didn’t actually say seize the day, but I meant it. They listened, understood, and declined. “People can crush the barb if they want,” they said, and they only made the barbed version.

Crushing the barb on any hook is not as good as starting out with a barbless hook. There’s always at least a bit of a hump left, and sometimes the hook has such a prominent barb that it can only effectively be reduced by filing it off, which bares the metal to corrosion. Pretty ordinary. A barb that is a mere thin sliver of the hook, typical with Japanese brands, is easily crushed, but will still not be as smooth, slim, strong or corrosion-proofed as a true barbless hook. But it’s still better than leaving the barb intact.

Go ahead, make my day. Crush your barbs, or preferably buy barbless hooks. You’ll catch more fish, you’ll unhook them easier, and you’ll thank me for it when you stick a barbless hook into yourself.