It seems i am always reading differing thoughts on debarbing hooks. One book says file, another says simply mash down the barb with pliers...I tend to be a
"mash it down-er" myself, but wanted to hear what you guys do...
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debarbing flies...
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 goodoldmac |
debarbing flies... |
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Posts: 6 05/21/2009 17:41 |
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 Marty |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 170 05/21/2009 18:07 |
I have a couple sets of flat pliers (no serrations) and mash from the point (seems to break fewer hooks than from the side). I am gradually migrating to
buying barbless hooks as I work through a size/ style of hook. Although better than 10 years ago the selection of barbless hooks is still slim. Mostly they
are also not offered in 100 or 1000 packs like the standard hooks. (or nobody carries them)
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joaniebo |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 1849 05/21/2009 19:12 |
I use Daiichi's #1190 barbless hooks for virtually all the dries that I tie and then crush down the barbs on all the other Daiichi & a the few Mustad
hooks that I also use. So far, so good.
Cheers and Safe Fishing Bob |
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ttrotter |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 1090 05/21/2009 19:21 Moderator |
Mash "em down from the point of the barb. No sense in spending your $ when you can do it yourself. I use Daiichi exclusively.
My $.02 worth! Tom |
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crazy bill the eel killer |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 3 05/21/2009 22:18 |
I've always mashed em and never had a problem ( from size 2 to 32. Of course on the little stuff, there's really not much of a barb). I've always
used Tiemcos, and have had good luck with them ( never broken a barb or hook ).
Used pliers ( and forceps with the small stuff ), hit em from the side. Since the Tiemcos are fine wire hooks, I don't think it matters what angle you smash em from. That's my $.02 worth. Cheers, Crazy Bill
Last Edited By: crazy bill the eel killer 05/21/2009 22:23.
Edited 1 time.
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92Esquire |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 36 05/21/2009 22:58 |
I have a small pair of fine-tip needle nose pliers at my tying bench to crush the barb down on every hook prior to it going in the vise. I crush them from the
side. My hooks are Tiemco for freshwater, Mustad for saltwater.
My brother gives me no end of grief for mashing barbs. He's a meat fisherman - fly fishing is secondary to chasing deep water salmon on the Great Lakes. He considers my mashing barbs on flies I give to him as some sort of sabotage. However, I'm really glad I do it. Last weekend I had a cast get caught on a tree branch during the back cast. This ended up lodging a size 14 Stimulator up to the hook bend in my index finger. It hurt like the dickens, but I was able to pull it out without problem. I don't think it would have been that easy with a barb. |
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Eric Peper |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 257 05/22/2009 08:36 |
Like Marty, I'm shifting over to barbless hooks as some of the newer models are really great. I've had duplicate flat jawed, small needlenose pliers
on my tying bench and in my vest for the last couple of decades. I try to remember to mash the barbs down before tying the fly, but I occasionally miss one or
have a fly in the box that was a gift that didn't have the barbs flattened. After having had a fly professionally removed from my eyelid and having
extracted more than a couple from other people and from other parts of my own gear or self, I doubt I will ever again fish with a barbed fly.
EP |
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djo |
#7 | |||
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Posts: 117 05/22/2009 13:49 |
I can not imagine filing the barbs off. Someone is much more patient than I. I mash the barbs down on all my hooks using the tying vise before the hook ever
sees a thread. It is just a reflex now. Never have had a problem doing it that way.
David. |
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wb4tjh |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 503 05/22/2009 15:51 |
I always pinch down barbs. The little bump it leaves seems to help keep the hook in place better than a smooth, barbless hook. But it's still easy to slip
it out of the fish when you release it. I really don't like straight, factory barbless hooks. I do the same for my saltwater flies, too.
Bill Anderson, Sarsota, Fl. "Bamboo is the Benchmark in flyrods". |
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GrsdLnr |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 187 05/23/2009 00:00 |
djo wrote:I've done it on Partridge Bartleet salmon hooks. They had a prominent barb, plus the steel was brittle and if you tried to crush the barb it broke off and left a fairly good size bump which had to be filed to make it truly barbless. Daiichi hooks don't have that problem. I crush all my barbs in the jaws of the vise before tying the fly. |
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Eric Peper |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 259 05/23/2009 08:35 |
wb4tjh wrote:I don't like the straight point barbless hooks either, but I'm pretty fond of this design. 
EP |
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Marty |
#11 | |||
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Posts: 172 05/23/2009 08:53 |
Eric,
Tthat looks like it would still have a lot more holding power than the barbless version of a standard DF hook I am using. What maker and style is that? Looks like they tweaked the hook to suit its barbless design. Thanks -m Life is too short for cheap scotch and plastic rods.
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Whitefish Press |
#12 | |||
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Posts: 434 05/23/2009 10:42 Sic transit piscatoria Clark's |
Has anyone else used a dremel tool to debarb a hook? I've had some success--particularly with the larger sizes 1/0 and above, which I tie for pike fishing.
I use a foot-control pedal accessory which allows you to control the speed of the dremel head, and a standard grinding drum followed by a fine sanding drum.
I wonder, however, if debarbing in general weakens the hook? -- Dr. Todd |
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joaniebo |
#13 | |||
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Posts: 1850 05/23/2009 11:05 |
Doc
I'm not an expert on metals but would assume that if a "significant amount"of heat was generated by "rapid grinding", the temper of the metal might be affected (weakened). Remember reading something about this a long time ago regarding sharpening knives and metal hunting arrowheads. Cheers and Safe Fishing Bob |
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thegubster |
#14 | |||
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Posts: 1623 05/23/2009 12:33 |
I debarb everything now. Even did it to my muskie plugs with those trebles. No lost fish, anymore than usual, to speak of.
I do a fair bit (lots!) of pike and muskie fishing and my hooks there range from 1/0 to 4/0 in a variety of styles. Sometimes a 6/0 but not typically. Had a big pike charge a deerhair diver tied onto a Daiichi 6/0. He missed a topside ambush a couple seasons back but the resulting "setup" put the 6/0 clean into and out of my left index finger. I showed my partner and subsequently just backed it out rather quickly. No problem, barbless, thank goodness! On my trout flies I'll squeeze the barb down with a pair of smooth hemo's before tying the fly. I've had a couple too many hooks break after dressing the iron. Jeremy. |
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Whitefish Press |
#15 | |||
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Posts: 436 05/23/2009 12:45 Sic transit piscatoria Clark's |
Bob. You are indeed correct--reheating tempered steel will weaken it. I try to keep the dremel speed as low as I can, but maybe it's still making it too
hot? I have filed them down, too, as well as crimped them. When I was writing the chapter on the origins of the barbless hook for my History of the Fish Hook
in America, Vol. I found this "crimp vs. file" debate also took place among 19th century anglers. Seth Green offered hand-made needle point barbless
hooks. Maybe I'll get some high-quality needles and make some of my own based on Seth's pattern!
-- Dr. Todd |
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Bill Lambot |
Barbless | #16 | ||
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Posts: 152 05/23/2009 14:13 |
I now flatten the barbs on all my hooks except for my tarpon flies. I buy barbless when I see them. Otherwise, I crush them with pliers when I first lay out my
hooks and all my other materials to tie a pattern. Regular needle nosed pliers handle everything from #18 up to 3/0. I have found that working from the side
while holding the fly in my fingers minimizes the bending, distortion and damage to the hooks. Hooks made with tempered wire are brittle and are prone to snap
if you crush them from the front. The barbless hooks penetrate better, do less damage and facilitate an easy release. Don't underestimate the safety
factor. Barbless hooks are much, much easier to remove from hats, vests, nets, guides and anglers. If you suspect that you are hearing the voice of experience,
you are correct. They also pop off the little fleece drying patches on your vest much more easily.Especially the hard to tie or expensive ones. Barbless is one
of those little details that has big consequences. Good luck. Bill Lambot
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riverwader |
#17 | |||
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Posts: 39 05/29/2009 23:56 |
Mash em down with needlenose.
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Silver Doctor |
Debarbinf | #18 | ||
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Posts: 41 05/31/2009 01:48 |
We have been barbless by law up here in Alberta Canada for a number of years. Prefer it to barbed. I find the hook set easier than trying to drive a barb into
a fish. Easier to get an errant hook out of a hat, or skin. Less damage to the fish, which is the most important feature. I do some commercial tying and use a
small pair of jewellers needle nose. I normally debarb my hooks by the box. Goes quickly, and then you don't have to worry.
Often I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned,
mosquito bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand have I been in a place that was less than beautiful.
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cutthroattroutnm |
Barbless hooks and the San Juan River | #19 | ||
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Posts: 70 05/31/2009 13:23 |
The best method I know of has already been described, a pair of flat small pliers or hemostats. And I believe that barbless hooks are the only way to go for
all of the reasons stated above.
But now a word of caution for debarbing that has recently arisen on the San Juan River in New Mexico. Game and Fish wardens are going around and using your tippet to pull against the back side of where the barb originally was. If is catches up at all, you're fined. That's a pretty strict interpretation, IMHO, particularly since on highly hardened steel hooks, often time to barb breaks off cleanly, leaving a metal bump, but no barb. Now I like to start with barless hooks, but I can't always get what I want in the size I want in a barbless hook. And on occasion, I'll buy a special fly at a local shop that isn't debarbed. I try to make sure that the barb is mashed down flat, and I'm now taking extra care due to the "barb police" that have taken to prowling the San Juan River in the quality water. Now that it's up to 4000 cfs, they may be less evident for a while. |
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crazy bill the eel killer |
#20 | |||
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Posts: 4 06/02/2009 21:12 |
Hello all,
To answer the concerns about weakening hooks by grinding off the barb and causing a weakening effect from the heat. Hooks are tempered( hardened ). To remove the temper would require heating the hooks red hot ( and I mean RED HOT ), and then letting them cool slowly. I can't see any way that the judicious use of a Dremel tool can do that. So, grind away slowly, and there should be no issues. Cheers, Crazy Bill |
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- Members Corner
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