Barbless hooks do have a disadvatage to the fish as they penetrate much deeper and are much more likely to cause some organ damage when swallowed. It is debatable whether or not barbless hooks are actually better for the fish.
I have been using a method similar to the in-fisherman article for 10 years now and have seen very little mortality at our pond. I don't go through the gills though. The reason I do this is that one October I left a "chrome plated" offset worm hook in a 14" LMB throat, the following spring I caught the same fish with the hook still in it's throat and it was super skinny, I did get it removed at that point. It's probably ok to leave a std. steel hook in the fishes throat to rust, but a chrome plated hook is whole different ball of wax as it will be there a long time before it rusts out.
