At Alaska West, we exercise an 100% barbless policy on all of our flies. That means our guides do their best to ensure that no fly is fished without smashing the barb down first.
Some of our guests, particularly those who have not fished barbless hooks before, are often skeptical of this, but contrary to popular belief barbless hooks have a number of advantages..
They reduce the handling time/air exposure of fish to be released, they cause minimal damage when removed from fish, and some would even argue that barbless hooks offer better penetration than barbed hooks when fishing for hard mouthed fishes.
Best of all, they’re also easily removed from people, which we think is reason enough.
Smash ’em down folks.. You can thank us later.
Does anyone know??? Does wearing a hat that has a brim all the way around offer any better protection from errant hooks than the “baseball cap” style of hat (as pictured)?