Catch-and-release is practiced in recreational fisheries under the premise that released fish will survive with negligible injury and stress. However, hooking injuries may prevent that outcome from being realized. One way to potentially minimize injuries and maximize survival in angled fish is to replace treble hooks on hard plastic lures with single hooks, but the effectiveness of this tactic has yet to be tested. Our study investigated if replacing treble hooks with single hooks on hard plastic lures reduced injuries and handling for angled Northern Pike (Esox lucius), Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides). Furthermore, we compared fish handling (i.e., need for use of hook removal gear) and injuries between fish that were captured with barbed and barbless hooks. Fish were angled using three types of conventional hard plastic lures (i.e., crankbaits, jerkbaits, and lipless crankbaits). Upon landing, total length of the fish, an array of hooking characteristics (i.e., number of hook points in the fish, anatomical hooking location(s)), and reflex impairment were recorded. Analyses revealed that using barbless J hooks on all lures yielded the shortest unhooking times for all species. For Smallmouth Bass caught on both crank and jerk baits, J hooks tended to result in more shallow hooking than treble hooks. Barbless treble hooks were more likely to be embedded in a sensitive location (e.g., foul hooked, gullet, gills, and/or eyes) compared to barbless J hooks in Smallmouth Bass. No other significant differences in hook types and anatomical locations were found for other species. Hook type and lure type did not influence reflex impairment or survival for any of the species. Using J hooks, especially barbless ones, on lures that traditionally have treble hooks should be considered when encouraging best angling practices for the freshwater gamefish studied here to expedite release, although the extent to which this influences mortality remains unclear.

在休闲渔业中捕捞和放生的前提是放生的鱼能够在可以忽略不计的伤害和压力的情况下存活下来。然而，钩伤可能会阻止这种结果的实现。在有角的鱼中，有可能最大限度地减少伤害并最大限度地提高生存率的一种方法是用单钩代替硬塑料诱饵上的三钩，但这种策略的有效性还有待测试。我们的研究调查了在硬塑料诱饵上用单钩代替高音钩是否可以减少有角度的北梭鱼( Esox lucius )、小口黑鲈 ( Micropterus dolomieu ) 和大口黑鲈 ( Micropterus salmoides ) 的伤害和处理）。此外，我们比较了用有刺和无刺钩捕获的鱼之间的鱼处理（即需要使用钩子去除装置）和伤害。使用三种类型的传统硬塑料诱饵（即曲柄诱饵、jerkbaits 和无唇曲柄诱饵）对鱼进行成角。上岸后，记录了鱼的总长度、一系列上钩特征（即鱼上钩点的数量、解剖上钩位置）和反射障碍。分析表明，在所有诱饵上使用无倒钩的 J 形钩可以使所有物种的脱钩时间最短。对于同时被曲柄和挺杆诱饵钓到的小嘴鲈鱼，J 形钩比高音钩更容易钩住更浅的鱼钩。无倒钩的高音钩更可能嵌入敏感位置（例如，臭钩、食道、鳃、和/或眼睛）与小口黑鲈中的无倒钩 J 钩相比。其他物种的钩子类型和解剖位置没有其他显着差异。钩型和诱饵型不影响任何物种的反射障碍或存活。在鼓励此处研究的淡水游鱼的最佳垂钓实践以加快释放时，应考虑在传统上具有三钩的诱饵上使用 J 钩，尤其是无刺钩，尽管这对死亡率的影响程度尚不清楚。