CHAPTEE II. 

 ON HOOKS. 



THE selection of a suitable hook upon which, to 

 dress a fly is of the first importance in more 

 senses than one. There are probably many 

 amateurs, and one or two professionals, who have 

 had this fact unpleasantly borne in upon them. 

 For my own part, the biggest trout I ever hooked 



in a river ; but there, the story is an old one. 



The fly, a neat Little Pale Blue, now reposes in 

 my fly book, the hook broken behind the barb. 



Care should be taken to have always plenty of 

 the best hooks, in all sizes, that one is likely to 

 need. The result is usually disastrous when one 

 is forced to buy cheap hooks from the local hard- 

 ware shop. Hooks of good material and temper, 

 and properly enamelled* are all to be had from 

 good houses by paying a fair price. The qualities 

 mentioned are independent of one another, and 

 are therefore comparatively easy to secure ; but, 

 as regards its remaining qualities, which are 

 mainly of a mechanical nature, a good hook, to 

 borrow Mr. Wells's apt expression, is " a creature 

 of compromise." 



Mr. Pennell, in his "Modern Practical Angler/' 

 was, I believe, the first who set himself the 

 problem of attaining this compromise. Mr. Wells 

 renewed the discussion in his excellent work, 

 "Eods and Fly Tackle," presumably because he 



* The enamelled hooks are the brown and the black. 

 The blue are not enamelled, and are therefore not rust 

 proof. 



