![]() ![]() This time, however, the hooks were not just straight barbless copies of barbed designs. We discovered all sorts of quality issues with these hooks, so after a serious sales job on the then owner of Fulling Mill, he was convinced to invest once again in getting barbless hooks manufactured. So, we decided to launch a range of barbless flies and initially we used the hooks from Eastern Europe to tie them. Steve continues, “around 2011 we saw that competition style fly fishing on rivers was really gaining in popularity and the top teams were using manufactured barbless hooks from Eastern Europe. The initial production batch were quickly discontinued, and it took us many years to sell through the stock.” I have to say, though, that these hooks were a resounding flop. They were exact barbless copies of the successful barbed hooks that we sold and used in our fly production. He says “the initial designs were introduced due to the increase in catch and release fishing. Where did it all start? According to Fulling Mill Technical Manager Steve Carew, Fulling Mill has been selling barbless hooks for 25 years or more. Barbless hooks-on the other hand-are engineered to have excellent fish holding power without the barb there in the first place. Here’s the thing: when you crimp the barb on a barbed hook you remove the one thing meant to keep the fish on, the barb. You might be asking yourself, what’s the big deal? After all, you can just crimp the barbs on your other hooks. However, as catch and release angling has surged in popularity, so too has demand for these hooks. Barbless hooks have been around for years.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |