Request to the local Fishermen

We frequently fish the local pond and consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have access to such an accessible fishing hole. There is plenty of bluegill for the kids to pull out and the rest of us know there are some big bass hiding under that underbrush just out of our reach. One of the best ways to get kids interested in fishing is the ability to put a worm on a hook and pull out a bluegill in 10 seconds or less. It instills the thrill of catching a fish and helps them with the mechanics of casting and setting the hook and getting the fish off safely for a release.

Today we caught well over 20 fish and more than half had noticeable to significant hook damage with 2 still having hooks caught in the body somehow. These fish take a lot of damage as it is, especially as the de facto training fish for our younger anglers. This kind of trauma can really be reduced though.

My request is this: please consider bending down the barbs on your hooks.

It may come as a surprise to know that barbs aren't on hooks to stop the fish from spitting them out, but actually to hold live bait on the hook. Could you imagine trying to get a minnow to stay on a hook without a barb? There is a good amount of information available articulating the specifics of how you won't lose fish without barbs but I'll just add my personal experience after 30 years of fishing. When you are a parent helping your kids fish, the ability to easily slide a hook out of a fish and get him back into the water without anyone getting poked with a fin, the fish getting dropped, or the worst, permanent damage caused by a hook caught in an eye or gill, will increase your enjoyment a great deal.

This is especially true when you have young folks that are off fishing on their own. Those 11-year-old hands don't have quite the confidence and finesse that comes with years of fishing and that fish often times is going to experience some trauma as they practice their skills. You can help them with a pair of pliers to crush the barb against the hooks before you send them off and they won't have to worry about the least fun part of the experience.

This can apply to more advanced fishing as well. On my expensive Rapala lures which will usually have double treble hooks, I will bend down the barbs on the back treble and sometimes 1 or 2 of the ones on the front. I love catching the big fish but it's no fun to have a fish hooked on your top treble while the back one is buried in his gills leading to a 5 minute session where the fish and I are tearing each other up trying to get the tangled hooks out.

 

what local pond are your referring to?

 

Bullfrog Pond.

 

Thanks for the great tip! I took my 5 year old daughter to Bullfrog Pond a few weekes ago and while she had a blast, those fiesty barbs did make it difficult to remove the fish from the hook. I'm placing some needlenose pliers in my tacklebox....