D-Barb Product Review

Not long ago I was contacted by Jeff Walker, President of D-Barb, Inc. He told me about a new product his company developed that would make the safe releasing of "gut hooked" fish a breeze. I was quite skeptical but when Mr. Walker offered to send me a sample to try out I accepted.

I started to bring the tool with me each time I went out bass fishing. On the first couple of trips I fortunately didn't need the services of his product. But on my last trip out I was fishing for Largemouth with several different types of Senko Lures (soft plastic baits by Gary Yamamoto Bait Co.). If you haven't tried these I suggest you do ( http://www.yamamoto.baits.com/ ). Anyway, I hooked into a two pound largemouth and when I boated him I saw that the hook was buried deeply in it's throat.

Being strictly a catch and release fisherman I had the feeling of "instant regret". I think the true sportsman will understand exactly what I mean. I started to reach for my long nose plyers and then remembered the D-Barb.

I was able to see the barb on the hook and was easily able to reach down with the extra long handles and snip the hook in two, removing the barb. It cut through the hardened Gamakatsu hook like it was butter. From there I had no problem backing the hook out and releasing the fish unharmed.

A litlle later in the day I had a similar situation with another bass about the same size. It was one of those days where the bass were really inhaling the baits and trying to swallow them quickly. By the way, the salt content in the Yamamoto baits is three times what most companies put in. I think that's why they are so heavy and why the fish love them so much.

This fish had really swallowed the hook with only the last half inch or so visable. It was bleeding and I felt the best I could do was to reach down as far as possible (quite easy with the D-Barb) and just snip off the hook. Of course I don't know what the long term effect on the fish will be but I felt that I would have had a hard time cutting the hook as closely as I did with diagonal cutters, especially as deep as it was.

After having had the opportunity to try out the D-Barb, I believe that all true "catch and release" fisherman should have one along in their tackle bag. It is truely a useful and necessary tool for all true sportsman.

The company can be contacted through their website at http://www.d-barb.com or emailed at info@dbarb.com. Their mailing address is: D-Barb, Inc., P.O. Box 229, Odessa, FL 33556.