John Merwin on the "Hookless" Moffitt System

Field & Stream‘s John Merwin weighs in on a new hookless-fly rig that has recently caused disagreement among even the purists. Does it provide another way to reduce fish mortality, or does it rub against the collective zeitgeist of the sport? Merwin says, “The advantage lies not in hooking more fish but in doing less damage to those you want to release. The mechanics of Moffitt’s system are such that it’s virtually impossible to hook a fish in the tongue or gullet, inside the gills, or in the eye, as sometimes happens with conventional flies.”