If you spend any time scrolling through fly fishing Facebook groups, Instagram posts, or the comment sections of YouTube and TikTok videos focused on wild brook trout in the Appalachians, you’ve probably seen it: someone jumps in with, “I hope you were using a barbless hook.”
Sometimes it’s said with care. Other times, not so much.
Truthfully, some fly fishermen should be ashamed of how they talk down to others who haven’t yet gone through the same process of learning and growth. It is a learning process. Some anglers get there sooner than others, depending on who they’ve rubbed shoulders with or the fly fishing environment they were raised in. And often, the people doing the loudest criticizing are younger or simply immature. They may not have been taught how to communicate with empathy or how to use positive persuasion to promote their perspective. Once someone is educated and still chooses an approach that harms fish, that is a different story.
This post is meant to explain the reason behind the push for barbless hooks, especially when it comes to native brook trout in small Appalachian streams. If you are new to fly fishing or just curious why this topic stirs up so much passion, I hope this helps.
What Is a Barbed Hook and Why Was It Designed That Way?
Barbed hooks have been around for centuries. The backward-facing notch near the point was originally created to keep bait from sliding off. Over time, anglers found that it also helped keep fish from shaking loose once the hook was embedded.
That design made a lot of sense when fishing for food, especially with larger species. But when you are targeting native brook trout in headwater streams, that same feature can cause harm.
Native Brook Trout Are Fragile
Native brook trout in the Appalachians are small. Most top out around 7 or 8 inches, and many young-of-year fish are only 3 to 4 inches long. Despite their size, they are bold and aggressive, often striking flies far bigger than you might expect. But they are also fragile.
A barbed hook can embed deep into a trout’s jaw or, worse, catch in the gills or tongue. Removing it usually takes more time and effort, especially with smaller fish. That added handling is likely to tear tissue, cause bleeding, and increase the chance of post-release mortality.
Barbless hooks, by contrast, release quickly and cleanly. There is less stress, less damage, and a much better chance the fish survives to feed, grow, and reproduce.
Even for anglers fishing legally to harvest trout, and yes, keeping brook trout is legal in some Appalachian states with size limits, barbed hooks can still present a problem. You may catch several undersized fish before landing one that meets regulations. If each of those small fish is injured by a barbed hook, the damage could add up.
Some may point to scientific studies suggesting that barbed hooks do not cause broad population-level damage in trout streams. And yes, there are studies out there, but most are inconclusive. What is clear is that native brook trout in the Appalachians already have a lot stacked against them—acid rain, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, and loss of canopy cover, just to name a few. One thing that cannot be debated is the staggering loss of home range. Over the last 100 years, native brook trout have lost a good portion of their historical habitat in the Appalachians. So even if a single barbed hook may not collapse a brookie population, unnecessary harm to individual fish in an already-challenging environment, doesn’t make sense to me. And if you’re not fishing to survive, if this is a hobby you pursue because you love it, then I believe it becomes about respect for the fish.
Personally, I release every native brook trout I catch. For me, the meal just is not worth the cost. But if you are fishing for sustenance and staying within the law, that is your call. All I ask is that if you can, be mindful of the broader impact. The fish people are most likely to keep are usually the largest and most mature. Those fish tend to be the most important breeders. Larger brookies have higher reproductive potential and produce more offspring, which means removing them can have a greater effect on the population.
What Size Barbless Hooks Work Best for Brookies?
If you are ready to switch to barbless hooks, or already using them and looking to refine your approach, here are a few tips that have worked well for me over the years:
Best Sizes: Hook sizes 16 to 20 are ideal. They match most of the aquatic insect life in brook trout streams and make it easier for smaller fish to take the fly cleanly.
Hook Styles: Standard gap barbless hooks work well for subsurface nymphs. For dry flies, wide-gap barbless hooks tend to offer more secure hookups on topwater takes.
Quick Tip: If your fly box is full of barbed hooks, do not worry. Just pinch the barb down with forceps. It is quick, simple, and goes a long way toward reducing harm.
Fly fishing for native brook trout is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. But with that reward comes responsibility. These fish are wild, native, and surviving in fragile habitats throughout the Appalachians.
Using barbless hooks is not about ego or showing off. It is about showing respect. Respect for the fish, for the water, and for the future of the experience.