Barbless Only Please

"Remember we pinch all our barbs," Jimmy Houston reminded Nathaniel and me as we we stood by my truck, rigging rods with YUM Dingers and other offerings. We were visiting the Houstons' Oklahoma ranch and were just about to hit the lake for a few hours of afternoon fishing.

Only barbless hooks may be used on Jimmy's lake, which is the epitome of sound fisheries management. Bass, crappie and bluegill are all fat, healthy and abundant in this 125-acre lake, which also offers a perfect blend of grass, timber and open-water habitat. Banning barbs allows for quickl and simple releases and helps keep the bass in great condition.

Nathaniel and I boated somewhere around 100 fish in an afternoon and a morning, and while I missed my share of strikes due to faulty hook sets or other factors, I cannot think of a single fish that either of us lost and that I think we would have landed had we had barbs on our hooks. On the other hand, I can remember a few specific fish that took baits quickly and got hooked deep. I was able to slip out the barbless hooks easily. With barbs, I'm pretty certain some of the same fish would have bled and been kept out of the water much longer and might have become marginal release candidates.

Our experience has been exactly the same at Dry Run Creek, Nathaniel's favorite special-regs trout stream in Northern Arkansas. Keep the line tight, and the fish fish don't get off anyway, but they sure are easier to release in good condition.

I think the barbless requirement is a really good one for any waterway where most fish will be released, and I commend Jimmy Houston for his commitment to sound management on his property.