I have been fishing Gamakatsu Siwash hooks recently and sometimes when I pinch the barb the flattened part of the barb breaks off and then I've got this tiny piece of the barb leftover. It just doesn't always come out smooth like it does with other hooks when I pinch barbs.

I heard stories of game wardens putting the hook in a wool shirt and if it catches when they pull it out then they ticket you. I don't want to get fined when I have made an honest effort to pinch the barb on selective fishery waters.

Anybody have this same problem with the siwash Gamakatsu hooks? If so, then have you ever been checked by Fish & Game and what did they say??

Life is short...Fish hard!!

yes ive been checked for barbless hooks during the last two salmon seasons. The fish cop took my hook and ran it threw a pice of cheese.cloth to see if the hook had a barb.
I seen one write out a ticket to a guy who had pinched his barb down and it just barley
caught.You could run your finger across it and not feel anything but the hook had a little mark on it and thats what caught and the fis cop said it was a barb so he wrote the guy a ticket.

I wance was fishing and i also saw a guy get a ticket for havin his hook barrley stick up and it really pisses me off.

Best to file'em down if they break off like that, as the extra time is worth the effort. They've been hitting the river hard lately, and I know they usually check your barbs up there.

Gamakatsu makes a barbless octopus style hook, The hook has a little more bend, than the standard barbed style octopus. Same price as the barbed style. you might want to check it out.

If what is being described as to how game wardens are checking for barbless hooks is accurate, that's chicken ****. Once I was checked on the North Umpqua--he "snuck" up behind me. He just asked to see my hook from several feet away, uttered thank you, and walked off. Incidentally, I had seen him around; I knew he would eventually get to me.

I not 100 percent sure, but the last time I read the regs "barbless hooks" were defined as pinched down or broken off.