Officer discretion, there is always that. I wonder, in some cases, if it may come down to some sort of test on whether a reasonable person using a herring like jig or something else mimicking something salmon are well known to feed on, ought to expect that they are in fact not just fishing for so called bottom fish, but also for salmon (which this time of year can be found almost anywhere on the coast)….in which case like others say, it’s just best to pinch the barbs or switch those factory barbed trebles they come with for a single barbless. You really don’t know how it would go until you are with the inspecting officer or defending any ticket in court. Personally, on all my jigs, the barbs are pinched. Easier to quickly release fish we don’t or can’t retain. When I stop to think about it, the “I’m only targeting lings/rockfish” mentality doesn’t really hold up in our coastal waters when using herring like jigs. I am “fishing for” pretty much every type of catchable fish with a mac deep or zinger or other jigs like that. From what others have said on this thread, it seems that where the conditions or regs aren’t fully detailed to the level we discuss them on this forum, that is where personal ethics come to fill in the gaps. Anyway, long winded way of saying barbless causes less damage than barbed when having to release, and if you happen to catch a retainable salmon and you want to keep it and you used a barbless hook, you don’t really have to think twice about it.
