36 SALMON FLIES 



assumption on which this method of estimating 

 the mechanical correctness of a hook is based 

 is a reasonable one. 



Now, it seems to me that the mechanics 

 of hooking resolves itself into questions of 

 (1) promptness of engagement, and (2) depth 

 of penetration, involved with both of which, 

 but subordinate to each, being (3) ease of 

 penetration. 



The late H. P. Wells, in his admirable book 

 ' Fly Rods and Fly Tackle," by an ingenious 

 illustration, suggested how the significance of 

 these principles could most readily be appre- 

 ciated. He asked you to compare the different 

 results achieved in working an ordinary car- 

 penter's chisel upon a block of wood, first 

 with the straight surface of the chisel upper- 

 most, and secondly with the bevelled surface 

 uppermost. The results are worth consider- 

 ing in some detail, for there is a rather close 

 analogy between the blade of the chisel and 

 the point of a hook. 



The chisel with the straight surface of the 

 blade placed uppermost, and with the bevel 

 laid parallel with the surface of the board, will 

 not bite. It represents the point of a hook, 



