Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
OT, Flys . . .
Steve Mackay
>Getting my gear ready for CO (rio Grande headwater) and filing off the barbs on the flys in my "ready box". Besides holding the shank of the hook with some smooth jaws and filing off the barb - is there a better way ? Eyes MUST be getting worse. I'll probably be lucky to thread the line in the eyes. Have to take some youngster along !
Re: OT, Flys . . . *LINK*
Ted Shuck, Centennial, CO
>Steve,
Get some small pliers and just pinch the barb down. It leaves a little bump where the barb was, so it helps a little with holding, but it won't grab like a barb. I always pinch the barb before I tie a fly, since sometimes (1 out of 100) the hook will break. I've included a link to the Dr. Slick barb pliers.
Regards,
Ted
Barb pliers
LOL ! NEVER thought of that one ! Love it !
Steve Mackay
Re: OT, Flys . . .
bill tindall
>I just crush them with pliers. the barb points usually break and leave a hook smooth enough for release. Hope you have enough water. A Joe's hopper can do well if the grass hoppers are around, especially on the big guys.
Re: OT, Flys . . .
Kurt Loup, Baton Rouge
>I purchased smooth jaw pliers from the local Harbor Freight for about $1. Pinching barbs is exactly why I bought them.
Kurt
Bouncing off the walls even now !
Steve Mackay
Re: OT, Flys . . .
Fred Krow
>A suggestion I learned many years ago.
Hold the pliers jaws parallel to the hook shank, this will help prevent the hook from breaking at the barb.
If you hold the pliers at 90 degrees to the hook shank you have a much greater local stress on the thinner barb slice area and the hook point will likely break off.
I much prefer hooks with barbs pinched down, they seem to hold better than barbs removed by grinding or filling or the newer totally barbless manuf. hooks.
Regards,
Fred Krow