Are You Tying Barbless?

[Smitty]

Hey guys, was reading an old Canadian Fly Fisher and I started to think about this.

 

My next poll will/would be about favorite brands of hooks, but I would like a serious tier to do it; I haven't tied flies in years, and don't have the familiarity with brand names.

 

Smitty

P.S. I voted for the last one.

[Weedy1]

I only tie with barbed hooks as I find the worm falls off too easily from the barbless ones.

[BadSal]

Hey guys, was reading an old Canadian Fly Fisher and I started to think about this.

 

My next poll will/would be about favorite brands of hooks, but I would like a serious tier to do it; I haven't tied flies in years, and don't have the familiarity with brand names.

 

Smitty

P.S. I voted for the last one.

 

 

 

I prefer to tie on Daiichi.

[Lundvike]

I wasn't quite sure how to answer. Basically when I shopping for new hooks for a specific pattern I try to buy barbless if the are available however I have lots, probably around 95% of my hooks, with barbs. So I make an effort to pinch the barbs prior to putting the hook in the vice.

 

But I do like cake!

[Swede]

I use Daiichi and mustad , all my hooks have barbs which I pinch and file off before tying.

[TerryH]

I buy barbless when I can, but like most people who've been tying for a long time, I have a big inventory of barbed hooks.

 

While on the topic of barbless hooks, I noticed something recently. I was using a double nymph rig with the top fly being a stonefly tied on a barbless hook. I prefer to tie the dropper off the bend of the top hook, and I discovered that with the smooth tapered point on the barbless hook, the dropper line had a tendency to slide off. A pinched barb provides enough of a bump to prevent this. After it happened a couple of times (slow learner here) I reverted to tying the dropper from the eye of the top fly. Terry

[maxwell]

like in your poll smitty.. the brand i prefer too tie with makes em with barbs.. so i tie with barbed hooks....then flatten em

 

weedy also does make a great point!

[SilverDoctor]

75% of what I tie on is barbed so I pinch down. Barbless is not available in a great many hook models.

[trailhead]

I'm same as lot of you though I do have some barbless hooks now. I always pinch the barbs before I tie, just because sometimes the tip snaps off and I hate when that happens to a fly I have just finished :$*%&: .

[SilverDoctor]

I'm same as lot of you though I do have some barbless hooks now. I always pinch the barbs before I tie, just because sometimes the tip snaps off and I hate when that happens to a fly I have just finished :$*%&: .

 

I normally pinch down all my hooks before I tie usually by the box as I buy them. I also find that a good quaity hook will not snap with folding the barb down. It's the cheapo brands that are too brittle or inconsistent.