Do any of you crimp the barbs on your trebles?
Some of mine I do, some I don't---there's no reason behind which ones I do or don't smash in.
But last night I may have injured a small blue when i went to unhook it. :smash:

If I am primarily catching blues I do, or go single hook. Sometimes I will crush 1 or 2 on a treble. On surface plugs like pencils or polaris type I will often replace back treble with single.

I crush the barbs down on all of my hooks and I usually replace tail trebles with a single.

It works for me, fish are easier to release and if I hook myself I am easier to release.

One thing that I do pay close attention to is the sharpness of my hooks. I carry a file and keep the points very sharp.

i crush the barbs on all my hooks, easier to release fish and humans.

i crush small blues. does that count?

Always crush barbs on hooks unless I'm fishin for Bonito/toonas

Always crush the barbs and never fish with a treble on the back. 6/0 Siwash dressed with bucktail and a couple of strands of Flash-a-boo

Do you find you will lose fish easier by crushing the barbs? What is the proper way to do it?

didn't notice loses of fish but more importantly, greater bigfish hook-ups. Crushing the barb and filing it sharp gives better mouth penetration (:eek: ) and it is way easier to unhook, especially if it is YOURSELF.

But the consequence is the potential for a thrown hook because the fisherman blew keeping proper tension on the line.

adds to the challenge and helps with the unhook program.

:)

there are some places I wouldnt fish with barbless hooks, esp. rock fields.
I may be different on sandy stretches, where you can just let fish run around

good point Krispy.

what the fok do I know about rocks :smash:

I crimp all barbs from april till the end of may when i'm catching more schoolies... but when the big ones show up i'll tend not to crimp, but if I do, it is the tail hooks and rear belly hooks. I never crimp the front belly hook.