Any advice appreciated, Thanks.

Thanks for your advice on brands.

some stickbaits will only work with trebles.....some now have been designed to work with inlines.........even some manufacturers are making stickbaits with inline singles eg nomad...

Carpenters tend to work only with trebles...I have a siren lure that needs a treble on its belly....it sucks with inlines.....

Yet both the shimano ocea pencil and starwalkers work better with inline 7/0 than the st66 3/0 they suggested to use on them........i found that out by testing myself.

My Ral lures were designed for inline singles.....

The big charter operators have banned the use of treble hooks....i think mainly because they fear being impaled on one of them.........some say trebles offer a better hook up rate............I have just changed all my treble hook stickbaits with barbless trebles.......If i had a choice of being impaled with a barbless treble compared to a inline single barbed hook...id choose the barbless treble........i also think a fish would prefer that too........something lance from enchanter certainly didnt agree with.........If i get bust off by a fish......a kingfish could throw a barbless treble quite soon....with a barbed inline single it could be death of the fish.........For some reason all the big charter operators in the top spots...never trialed barbless trebles....they just outright banned them..........they are not easy to find either......maybe because anglers think its easy to crush the barbs and that will do........it wont......a barbless treble will slide out very easily compared to a crushed barbed one that will still stick to a certain degree........Shogun extreme inline singles are no longer available...only size 12/0........Mustard do some cheaper ones...Jigstar....decoy are quite good but the best are Bkk inlines* from nomad........they have a welded eye....that is very desirable....... the owner st76 is a very strong treble hook........Gamakatsu GT recorder *(barbless 5/0 up)and BKK do a barbless treble as well.......but finding a 3/0 barbless treble will be very difficult........The most important factor is asking what is the best match to the lure you are buying ie recommended rigging.....They usually get it right

* the best IMHO.

I have barbless 3/0 4/0 5/0 6/0 and 7/0 now Sir Pete...If i get dusted by a fish ...i want it to be able to throw my lure and stand a chance to survive.

I will be running a carpenter gamma as my main lure so the info that trebles work better on that type of lure was great thanks.

Will also be trialing some new stickbaits from Japan that my mate has sourced, slightly less weight but look good.

Cheers, Gav.

But I see you don't say anything about the amount of damage trebles can do to a fish around the gill plate area which is undeniably true and not a blind opinion. The few times I have used stickbaits with trebles I have hooked the kings/kahawai in mouth as well as top of head / eyes / soft throat area. That was just with light gear. And obviously can hurt anglers / deckhands hence a lot of charters ban them.

I have had this conversation before about topwater lures with trebles with some really good fisho's and I think it is worth thinking about when buying lures that will work better with singles.  

An easy option with trebles is to crush them and thats it.....thats what a lot of GT fisherman do with singles amd trebles.........If you fancy crushing the barbs and then filing it down smooth....you could do that but i dont because i find it encourages corrosion. ...plus even the crushed barb sticks to a certain degree........you cant beat machined barbless hooks for easy slide out.

One of my mates on here used to fish barbless trebles on his carpenters off the rocks......when the fish was "ready to land" so to speak.........he used to bounce the lure up and down at his feet(vertically) to release the fish....fish was never lifted from the water and as long as it was hooked normally in the mouth......that worked every time for him.....he was using 5/0 6/0 barbless owner st66....he just shook the lure off the king.

   Thats why i buy new barbless ones...........Like fishy says......they do come out easy......Its very important to keep a tight line or you are likley to have the hooks spat with barbless hooks.......Muppet has a point with the spare treble getting into horrible places.....usually the tail hook...as kings go for the head region i reckon.........but they shouldnt get into the gills in a hurry(gill plate protection) and anglers have been fishing for GT's for trebles  for years...Gts have huge gobs on em........big kings too..........Personally i dont think thats the biggest issue with trebles mullet........The biggest issue is when the fish engulfs the lure down its gob and those trebles get stuck in the roof off the mouth etc......they can be a right prik trying to remove them(Even worse with Barbs).....and thats where a single really wins the arguement........Bigger trebles would lower that risk i guess........I think there are two shames....

1.....people pay a lot of money to buy carpenter lures ......yet they only swim well with trebles.

2....Then you are not allowed to use them at prime spots because the skipper says so.......and you are paying them a lot of money to go there.

          I really feel you should be given the option of single hooks or barbless trebles only.....They are not commonly promoted in my eyes......They slide out like that needle that took your last blood test or a bayonet !....Plus they encourage you to keep a tight line on the fish or you lose it........an important skill because you can lose fish with even a barbed hook.....from giving slack line.

Given a choice.....I am leaning towards inline single lures .....mainly because of freedom to use anywhere....more than anything else........I dont see them as kinder to fish at all.....Not at all.......Imagine carrying around a 220mm 120/140  gram lure hangin out ur gob !......how you going to eat then ?...That barbed single could be hangin around for sometime...whereas the barbless dood would work free in a short time frame imho........otherwise that mean arse fish that gave you the thrill of your life for 5 mins and dealt to you......doesnt get released to fight another day......he dies from the lure that you tempted him with

If deckies use lip grippers and can remove most hooks whilst the kings head is up in the water.....there is little danger to them.

Plenty of skips use that method successfully.....I have seen them.

Its very important the lures have the right size hooks and rings Gav.......worst thing you can do is weigh the lure down .....it will ruin the action.......the right  weight leader is also important too.....for the same reason

The question was asked and I think its fair to say single hooks are a viable option. I would also say there are times when the Kingie bite on topwater lures is so good you could probably get away with a single hook on the back of the lure only. I don't know much about lures but I know Kingfish and when they are biting stupid you can change it up. And on the other side there might be a day when you only get one bite and wish you had trebles 

The picture here shows the top lure with Gamakatsu GT recorder 6/0 barbless trebles on it....unfortunately they dont fit that well in these caps....points protrude.

The lower aswb fits perfectly with 5/0 on.......This is the XXL version of owner treble caps and will fit 2/0 to 5/0 very nicely.........they are free draining and lock into place...be careful removing them or they will get you !... pull back and off to the side to release....not straight back..........just remember to take them off before you cast...The bright colour should help

Cheers