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for flies should not be straight and round-bent, 

 but, on the contrary, they should be what is 

 called " sneck-bent." The same direction 

 refers to every sort of hook for fly-fishing. 

 They should be as light in the wire as possible, 

 to prevent the fly from falling heavily on, and 

 from sinking in, the water. 



The Redditch hooks are longer in the shank 

 than the Kendal, and, therefore, you may use 

 No. 11 for the hot months, and No. 10 for all 

 the other months of the year we mean for 

 those months in which the river is rather full. 



The diversity of opinion respecting the 

 shape and quality of fly-hooks is so great, that 

 we feel bound to state the conflicting judg- 

 ment of some of the best authorities. Sir H. 

 Davy says, " What a fool I was (a fish had 

 just broken a hook) ever to use one of these 

 London or Birmingham made hooks ! The 

 thing has happened to me often. I now never 

 use any hooks for salmon-fishing, except 

 those which I am sure have been made by 

 O'Shaughnessy, of Limerick; for even the 

 hooks made in Dublin, though they seldom 

 break, yet they now and then bend, and the 

 English hooks, made of cast -steel, in imitation 

 of Irish ones, are the worst of all." 



Mr. Alfred Ronalds says, The Kirby hook 

 is frequently preferred. The Limerick is also 



