Barbed hooks on bc lakes unless otherwise stated? Must of missed that one in the regs.
Yep, you musta. Only rivers are barbless, or some select lakes, most of which are catch and release or fly fishing only.
Addressing the treble hook use...
I use them occasionally on spoons off the beach for coho (barbless of course). This is due to short strikes. I only switch to a treble at the point where I have missed 5 or more hits in a row. This is normally due to coho short striking the spoon, and switching to a short, small sized treble hook can massively improve hook ups and landing. I also find they are easier to get out and don't do as much damage as the longer single siwash hooks (hook the fish deeper, make a bigger hole, tend to rip I find rather than stay in place), but I may have just been getting lucky thus far.