By Martyn Russ
For years the argument over barbless and barbed hooks has been a heated debate and which one is safer for the fish has been an argument that is just constantly on going. There are good points to both sides of the debate with some stating that the barbless hooks slip and cause taring and damage when the hook slips due to the amount of pressure put on the hook during the fight with larger specimens, whilst others say barbless causes less damage to the mouth when fish are being hooked a couple of times a day, especially with the smaller species and coarse fishing in general. You could settle for a mixture of patterns and when fishing for the larger Carp or Cat fish put on a Barbed hook and when fishing matches for Roach , Bream, etc. you can switch to barbless.
With the prices of fishing tackle increasing every year and new products being released all the time it can become expensive to have a selection of both patterns in different sizes so it was only a matter of time before someone stumbled on a solution to the problem. Pallatrax is a company that prides itself on a very natural approach to its angling and looks at products that the angler actually needs rather than wants. In other words these products are designed to catch the fish and NOT the anglers pocket. Looking at the issues of barbed and barbless hooks and the problems both have in angling , Pallatrax, who have team members experienced in fish farming and have seen the mouth damages both patterns have caused, came up with what i would say is an ingenious solution to the problem. A hook that doesn't need a barb to stay in as it GRIPS the fishes mouth by using the pressure applied to the hook during the fight. The grooves that have been cleverly placed in the position that the barb would normally be is enough to hold the hook in place and ensure those horrible hook slips don't occur and you end up causing extra damage to the fishes mouth. Not only does it help keep the hook in during the fight but also unhooking the fish is as easy as using barbless hooks and it comes out with ease when on the bank.
I have had the pleasure of trying these hooks out for the last few years, I was one of the ones that bought some when they were first announced on the market and i have to say "THEY WORK". Currently they are available in a Wide Gape pattern that is extremely sharp and very strong. The company is about to release a range of new patterns in the Gripz hook range including Curved Shank and various Cat fish hook patterns in a range of sizes but shhhhhh! Keep that between us, an insider secrete but keep an eye out around Christmas time you should see new patterns starting to appear. One thing i can say about these hooks is there work and are very reliable.So if you get a venue that is barbless only and you find yourself loosing fish or pulling out of fish then get on the Gripz.
Wet Nets & Tight Lines
After extensive research, where the limitations of both barbed fishing hooks, and barbless fishing hooks were scrutinised, there has been an obvious need for improvement thus resulting in this radical design that crosses the boundaries between what we have had and what we now have.
Made from high grade Japanese wire, the key improvement has been the introduction of a series of minute horizontal grooves on the inside of the specially designed arrow shaped hook point, where historically the barb would have been.
Made from high grade Japanese wire, the key improvement has been the introduction of a series of minute horizontal grooves on the inside of the specially designed arrow shaped hook point, where historically the barb would have been.
Initially GRIPZ are offered in sizes 6, 8 and 10’s in the same Wide Gape style as Pallatrax’s successful and existing hook pattern, ‘The Hook’. Teflon coated and unbelievably sharp, the GRIPZ Fishing Hooks are complimented with a range of nine, extremely effective, hair rigs using the three sizes of GRIPZ and hand tied on Pallatrax high quality Steamlink, Braid and Fluorocarbon.
