>>309597I fish debarbed myself. Now plenty of fish jump and chug. When they do I pull back and put a bit more bend in my rod but they can still throw a debarbed hooked if they flip over or angle themselves properly. The alternatives are ripping back harder to try and fight the flip or using barbs. With the first option something like a gill or gut hook can mean a death sentence for the fish. Plus I can't stand watching fisherman drag a fish skipping along the surface of the water. That's like a sucker punch rather than a fight and even the little fish deserve their fair chance. I want the fish to have the opportunity to pull drag (or at least tug a bit), make some jumps and all that. With option two things can again get nasty if you get a bad gut-hook or the sort. It takes forceps and a little practice to learn how to retrieve a debarbed hook from a fish's gut. Getting it unhooked, turned and up out of the gullet. Nevermind dealing with a barb working against the process. It's the kind of practice everyone needs but hopes they never get.
My train of thought is if the fish manages to throw the hook under moderate line/rod tension, "shit happens." I thank'em for the fight, congratulate them on their win, then get back to casting. When fishing catch'n'release I've only killed two fish in my life and both were as I described (ripping a gill and having a swallowed, barbed hook do significant internal damage because I'd never had to retrieve a guthook before). Ever since I've improved my methods; no barbs, loose drag and letting the fish have its fight rather than muscling the hell out of it. I sleep better at the end of each day fishing when I know I haven't killed a third.
Pardon the small rant. I've no qualms with killing fish for food and I'll even admit the taboo of keeping and cooking bass doesn't offend me (though I don't keep them myself). But I do hate waste and avoidable killing when fishing for the sake of leisure.
