All anglers may be natural ecologists without even giving it a second thought this may be found in every angler by the shear nature of the sport in which they participate, for the very fact that they desperately try to catch there quarry lends them to a certain train of thought , searching the waterways looking for fish and finding a whole manner of creatures and insects that live within it, facing many differing situations with answers that must be arrived at scientifically by their very nature , any angler will tell you that there is a degree of luck to the outcome of a days fishing , but is this always true ? , or have they convinced themselves that this is the case , when an angler goes in search of their quarry it is never without a certain amount of painstaking preparation , selecting their bait , tackle and venue with a great deal of thought even arriving on the bank and looking into the water may tell the angler where to set up his ambush for the day , finding fish colouring up the water or blowing bubbles must be arrived at with a degree of skill , taking note of the weather which can play a vital role in the outcome of the days events , so this is most positively a science by the shear definition of the word ( branch of knowledge requiring systematic study and method , dealing with substances , life and natural laws ) .

The angler may not even realize the importance of some of their actions and may miss an important event as it happens if they are not tuned in to a certain scientific train of thought for it is more important to know why a certain thing happens than when.

An angler does not need to know that water of a lower temperature absorbs more oxygen from the atmosphere and a higher temperature absorbs less , a PH value of 7 is neutral , under 7 is acid and over 7 is alkaline with about 6.5 to 8.5 being acceptable for good fish growth,  with alkaline water being ok and acid being not so , but if the angler knows these things it may only make them a more informed and in touch angler , being able to answer certain questions that may arise in certain situations whilst another may not , knowing about the insect life that lives beneath the water can be of definite advantage for this is the thing that is most important to the fish and don’t forget that baits on a whole any angler may use excluding worm, blood worm and other such baits which may appear naturally are totally foreign to the fishes natural diet so the angler is trying to get the fish to feed on an unnatural bait , accepted is the fact that over the years this has reversed itself some what with a great many anglers using and thereupon educating these fish to certain other baits and in some cases fish in certain venues such as commercial fisheries being reared on these other baits so that they will take them as readily or more so than baits that appear naturally to fish in other venues such as a river or canal , every angler will poses some sort of knowledge of the surroundings that they spend a great amount of time in , whether they realize it or not as we have a natural curiosity for things that we don't know or do not understand such are the complexities of the human brain , this is why it is of vital importance especially  from an environmental point of view that anglers are vigilant and in tune with their surroundings so that they may understand the convolution of this planet upon which we live and help to preserve it’s natural beauty and remarkable splendour for generations to come.

Countless amounts of anglers have debated the use of barbless hooks over the years but many will not even have given thought to this subject ?.

 In the good old days when fishing was just that, a boy and his father sitting by the riverside passing a summers evening in the hope of catching a few fish, nowadays it is much different especially with the introduction of carp filled lakes and fisheries stuffed with all species of fish even Barbel, many of these fisheries have helped in the abolition of barbed hooks specifying rules to stop their use and these fishery owners are doing it largely to protect their investment by way of looking after their fish stock, It has always bewildered me as to why barbed hooks are still sold and used in today's angling society with the advancement in the fishing tackle trade and manufacturing techniques in general along with a greater understanding and an awareness of all things piscatorial, I personally am amazed that some anglers will visit a fishery many times throughout a year where such rules apply being only too happy to adhere to these rules and not even mention the loss of any fish through the use of barbless hooks but get the same angler to fish a match or pleasure fish a canal, river or drain and the story often becomes different, one of blame through the use of barbless hooks and use of whisker barb or barbed hooks to alleviate an often unexplained problem or anglers perception of the fault !, is it not time that we as anglers started to take our sports future more seriously!, so what if we lose the odd fish to a barbless hook isn't that better than to damage a fish or to think of a fish swimming around with the hook still attached in the case of a lost fish through breakage of line, isn't it about time that we did something to protect our fish from possible damage by leaving behind the ancient ways of old and thinking about this new found scientific knowledge that we have gained as we go forwards into a new and exiting era of anglings history, we have seen the demise of lead which had the backing of most anglers anyway even before tackle manufacturers forged the way to it's abolition, education is the key to our sports  continuation and success and many anglers have already switched to using barbless hooks throughout their total fishing wherever they may fish !

If you have experienced problems with barbless hooks then look towards your tackle or angling methods first as the problem may lye elsewhere and even if you find that the definitive answer is through the use of a barbless hook just ask yourself this, is it really necessary to use a barbed hook! The answer is easily found, No!

Tight Lines !