HOOKS. 293 



that makes sucli tlcsperate efforts to get away, when 

 hooked. 



The Edgar patent barbless hook, manufactured by Will- 

 iam Mills & Son, is made upon a very different principle, 

 and is all that the inventor claims for it. This hook, 

 while having no barb, has a " keeper" which securely 

 holds the fish after it is hooked, rendering it impossible 

 for it to escape, even with a slack line. It is the only 

 " patent " fish-hook that has any real merit, though it seems 

 to me like taking too much advantage of a fish, and is 

 likely to foster and encourage a careless and shiftless style 

 of angling. Still it will no doubt become quite a favorite 

 hook with many. To my mind the great charm of angling 

 consists in using a proper judgment (born of a thorough 

 knowledge of the fish and its habits) in presenting the 

 bait, and the exercise of skill and science in hooking, 

 playing, and landing it. 



The Edgar hook is hand-made, composed of good and 

 reliable wire, and for fresh water fishing is made in several 

 sizes, and numbered from 1 to 10, No. 1 being the small- 

 est. For Black Bass, the proper sizes are Nos. 4, 5, and 6 

 for bait-fishing, and Nos. 2 and 3, for fly-fishing. 



