The Lake Murray trash fish?

I've never fished Manitoba (hope to), but Ontario smallmouth are some of the most colourful I've seen:
Very olive, isn't it? Oh, and easy to release from the barbless hook.

sweet, love me some SMB

Dittos all around. I mash the barb down on most of my flies, if they're not tied on barbless hooks already. If I don't, it's just because I forgot.

In addition to all the advantages already mentioned, there are a couple more. It's much easier to get bead heads on a barbless hook. Sometimes that is the only way you'll get a bead to go around the bend.

Also, I think you often get better hook penetration with a barbless hook. If you hook a fish in the hard part of the mouth, a barbless hook will usually go all the way through. Often a barbed hook will stick at the barb, and they can be thrown out.

The only flies that I leave the barbs on are big bass flies that are heavy. Lead dumbbell eyes and such can be flopped around and that can create enough movement and leverage to have a barbless hook come out, especially if you let a little slack get into the line.

Whether barbed or barbless, I always check the sharpness of my hooks. If they won't stick into my thumbnail VERY easily, I always sharpen them until they will. It doesn't take much, and it's the best 10 seconds you can spend before casting a fly.

Nice bass there! I would love to go after smallmouth bass.

I want a fish like that on my 4wt!

On topic, I actually just use a cheapo pair of needle nose pliers to mash hook barbs down. I generally keep one in my tackle box/back pocket/vest depending on where I'm fishing.