Hey PP, No argument from me as to hardware being more effective at times. But
being effective is not an excuse to use it.....Dynamite is more Effective too!!!
The question in my mind is"Can it be used without killing too many fish?" in Quality
Waters. My thoughts are NO. Most anglers argue vehimently that the regs are
too dang complicated now. If one were to put a hook size or hook type in to
lessen hook mortality you would have lots of violations that would go undetected
and more mortality than necessary.
Granted it would increase the scope of fishermen who could participate in the
fishery and that is important too. But most lures currently made do not fish
well with less than a #10 Siwash hook. I can see many people driving 80 miles to
fish a quality water and then hooking a trout in the eye or throat 5 minutes out
of the boatlaunch. The rules of sportsmanship sez all fish hooked in the eye,gills,
soft throat tissue or that bleed at all should be retained. What to do, is the fishing day
over on this one fish limit lake or do I just quitely slip this bleeder back into the
water and continue fishing?
What the hell, the law doesen't state for sure it's illegal and I wanna fish. You know the
rest. I still wonder why you lure guys are so resistant (even in our conceptual fishing)
to accept change. It's not hard to learn flyfishing as you already know, plus you would still
have the "rest of the world" to practice your lure fishing. Do you have to be able to lure
fish everywhere you want to even though it has conservation problems?

If a type of well designed lure that worked with small hooks and lip hooked fish
99% of the time existed, I'd agree. I don't know of such a lure yet and I do know how
the current single barbless hook lure rule is working........not very well at all......killing far too
many fish.That's why I continue to say "Fly Fishing Only" Catch and Release or 1 fish limit for
our Quality waters is the ONLY way.