HOOKS. 89 



but very important article of angling gear. We 

 allude to 



THE HOOK, 



of which there are several kinds, each having its 

 admirers. The principal sorts are the Limerick, 

 the Kendal, the Redditch, and the Sneck-bent 

 all of which possess distinct peculiarities in their 

 shape and workmanship. The chief qualities 

 which constitute a good hook are, lightness 

 that it may fall upon the water without disturbing 

 the fish ; temper that it may neither break nor 

 bend without much force ; and shape and sharp- 

 ness of point that it may hook a fish freely 

 and hold it well. It should be so tempered as 

 to admit of being taken by the point with one 

 hand and by the shank with the other, and pulled 

 asunder with some force, and, on the hold being 

 relinquished, return to its original shape. The 

 point should not be too long, but sharp nothing 

 in art requires to be made sharper and the 

 barb should be cut deeply and stand well off at 

 such a distance as to admit of the point being 

 well buried in the mouth of a fish before it is 

 fixed by the barb. It is obvious that this last 

 cannot take place if the barb be not of the shape 

 we have described. The point, too, should have 



