Barbed or Barbless

[Crippled Caddis]

I was told by the warden working out of Norfork that as long as it appeared that you had made an effort to make the hook barbless, it was OK. She said that the story about the warden using cotton balls to test hooks (where only factory barbless hooks passed the test) was not true.

While last week I asked one of our local wardens on the Spring river if the stories of sticking the debarbed hook thru the sleeve of their shirt to see if it pulled thread was true. He assured me that was the test of choice and you would be ticketed if it pulled threads. When I tried to tell him it was virtually impossible to pinch a barb down far enough to prevent such a test 'coming up positive' he said "Then you better file it down".

Frankly this seems a rather extreme position. Abiding by the spirit of the law with an earnest effort is one thing, abiding by the letter of the law when it is a virtual impossibility is another. I believe the AGFC needs to clarify their position on it a bit more specifically.

I tried it. After pinching down the barb I could see no remaining protrusion even when wearing reading glasses, a headband magnifier and looking thru a

magnifying lamp yet it would pull thread when trying to back it out of fabric 2 outta 3 times.

SO CYA in Arkansas!