barbless vs debarbed

Larry L wrote:

I also realized that I probably can't get barbless hooks for all the
patterns I use. I have an old Tiemco catalog, so maybe they have added BL
hooks, but I don't see anything BL for hopper/ stonefly /wooly nasty type
patterns. I think I may have to climb down off my barbless high horse, at
least for some patterns G

The TMC 200R and 5263 both come in BL, so that covers (for me, anyway),
most hoppers, stoneflies and streamers/buggers. The real problem for me
is the lack of true BL variants for the straight-eye hooks I like for
tiny flies (TMC 101s and TMC 3488s). Fortunately, the barbs on the
regular 101s and 2488s do seem to pinch down fairly easily and completely.

BTW, I went through my nymph and dry fly boxes the other night and was
surprised at the number of flies in there with non-pinched barbs. Like
you, I mostly tie these days on TMC BL hooks, and I pinch the rest down
before tying. But I've gotten into the habit I guess of pinching the
barbs of store-bought flies, swap flies, and older flies collected over
the decades only when I tie them on the tippet on-stream. Bad habit.
Many (especially those tied on older Mustads, I think) could not pass a
nylon-stocking test without filing the barb or barb-nub.