Quick Tip: De-barbing a Fly from Murray’s Fly Shop on Vimeo.
Quick Fly Fishing Tip: De-barbing your Fly – Learn to De-barb your flies. Many streams and regions throughout fishing country require the use of Barbless Flies. This is a simple process and when done correctly will aid in reducing the mortality of released fish. Barbless flies decrease the amount of time a fish needs to be handled before being returned to the water. Along with shorter return to water times, the amount of trauma caused by properly or foul hooked fish is greatly diminished with Barbless Flies. And alas, when you accidentally drop your backcast in the wind, that impaled object (aka. “your fly”) comes out of your fishing buddy, or you, much easier. An often asked question: Why don’t we just tie flies on barbless hooks? Many of the barbless hooks available on the market today are a bit on the weak side. We, along with much of the industry, tie our flies on strong hooks which tend to come barbed.
