Buckbrush, cattails, reeds and lily pads are no place for a hook with a small, skinny barb. All-Terrain Tackle pro Jim Moynagh uses a big, thick barb whenever he's flipping or pitching to the heavy stuff.

"Whether you're fishing a jig or a Texas rig, if you've got a hook with a small barb, you'll invariably lose more fish when you get into those tangled messes," he said. "This happens frequently: you pitch in and set the hook, and all of a sudden the fish is pinned in there against the vegetation.

"Whey they get pinned like that, they twist and roll on the bait, and they can get leverage on it. The only thing saving you might be the barb on the hook, and the chance of them getting off is much greater with a tiny barb than with a larger one."

No Measuring Stick

Moynagh said there's really no standardized scale for barb measurement.

"It's just a matter of eyeballing it," he said. "A lot of products today are marketed for specialized techniques, and some hooks are marketed as extra-heavy. Generally speaking, you'll find a bigger barb on that type of hook.

"Some jig hooks have small barbs and some have bigger ones. When you see several different types of jigs in a shop, take them off the shelf and look at them. It's just a matter of having some experience and recognizing which one has a barb that's better suited to that application."

He also likes a bigger barb when working a jig among rocks, but for a different reason.

"It's especially key whenever you're using a 3/4-ounce head. For whatever reason, fish usually try to jump and throw a rock jig, and that 3/4-ounce weight is heavy. That fish will be flying around and shaking its head, and in that situation, a small barb is way easier for them to throw."

He designs a line of football-head jigs for All-Terrain Tackle that feature heavier hooks than comparable jigs produced by most companies.

"I experimented with smaller barbs this summer, and my opinion hasn't changed. When that fish is coming up and there's slack in the line right as it's jumping, half the time it'll throw that fine-wire hook. A big barb will hold a lot more often than a finer one."

Small Not Always Bad

There are a few applications for which Moynagh advocates a fine-wire hook with a smaller barb.

"One is Carolina-rigging. Unlike with a rock jig, your weight is up the line. When the fish jumps, the hook isn't flying around in its mouth. Most of the time a finer hook will hold in there nicely.

"Another one is bed-fishing for spawners. A lot of times their beds tend to be in open clearnings, and I tend to go with finer hooks then. If they're out in the clear, they can't pin themselves up against anything and twist off."

If you're making long casts with jigs, it's better to use fluorocarbon line rather than monofilament.

"Fluorocarbon has less stretch, and that'll help with hook penetration on a long cast. Plus, it's more sensitive."