Ontario Shore Fishing Forum

I started a bit of discussion when I inquired about a suspect practice of salmon fishing.

It has been sugested that I use treble hooks for bait fishing. My personal feeling are that treble hooks are way too harsh for my tastes. In fact I have changed a few lures to single hooks to see if that affects the operation or action of that lure. Thankfully many fox lures include a second single hook for that option. I also bought a pack of single siwash hooks to change other brands over.

Now were at it I don't like barbs either. I know fish are cold blooded but it's just not "British". (an inside joke for limies).

I am new to fishing in that I had not touched a rod in over 40 years. My last experience in fishing in "the old days" was to take kids out with barbless hooks. It was great fun and they had no memory of trauma. The hook came out of the "fishy's cakehole easily"

Which leads me to another question. Will an undersized hook lead to excessive gut hooking?

I've never bait fished with treble hooks, but I really don't see a need to. A single J hook is enough to nab a fish. I tried bait fishing with circle hooks for the first time this weekend (minnow on a circle hook) and they made a huge difference in ensuring a quick, safe release.

Treble hooks + bait would just be a disaster. The multiple hook points would get caught in the fish's gills, throat... god forbig its stomach... Just not a good thing from what I can predict.

I guess I'll rely on the patented beaser evaluation system, "if it doesn't feel right then it probably isn't."

Edit
Just to keep things straight, treble hooks bother me in fact anything that does needless damage I find aberrant. The questions are to gain perspective on attitudes. I find I quite respect the general tone of the board.

In freshwater - I see no need for trebles in bait fishing.