Friday, March 20, 2009

Going Barbless Should Be Global

In recent angler surveys by Oregon and Washington fish management agencies, a larger proportion of the respondents practiced catch-and-release fishing. Anglers are embracing live release fishing as a conservation measure. It also does not substantially deplete fish numbers like a kill fishery, and provides at least the expectation that the fish will survive to reproduce or be caught again.

The use of single barbless hooks complements the growing interest in catch-and-release fisheries. As these studies show, their use reduces sublethal and lethal impacts on juvenile and adult fish.


Read about it in a recent paper for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife:

http://www.nativefishsociety.org/documents/BarbedandBarblessHooksLitReview408.pdf

I always thought using barbless hooks was a no-brainer; a common sense kind of thing. I guess some people need more convincing than others, and besides, a good study once in while that shows us we're not nuts is always good.

Life is Good. Take off your barb...........

Thanks to NJpatbee, who posted this on Gardenstatetrout.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Love the Oregon plug. You need to get out west and show me the fishing ropes. As a novice fisher I could use all the help in the world.

Cheers