Hi CircleHook,
For what it’s worth I have gone to barb-less hooks on all my plugs this year. Ground them off with a Dremil tool. I am sold. Do you loose a fish from time to time? I’m sure you do. But the damage to the fish is often much less. When you get a blue it makes it a lot easier and safer to remove the hooks. I believe it actually allows your plug to be fishing more as the release is usually so much faster.
It’s a shame there isn’t some was to keep a badly damaged fish, what a waste. I don’t think the fish-cops would understand.
Tight lines, (Especially when using barb-less hooks
), Al