90 THE HOOK. 



a slight lateral inclination, and the bend a wide 

 curve. It may be that all these qualities are 

 found, more or less, in all the different kinds of 

 hooks we have mentioned, and that it is only 

 custom or prejudice which has caused the belief of 

 the superiority of any particular one over the rest. 

 We do not say that this is not the reason why 

 we greatly prefer to all others the Kendal Kirby- 

 bent hook. We have used it for twenty years, 

 and may say, without boasting for we intend 

 praising the hook, and not ourselves that we 

 have lost as few fish, either in striking or playing 

 them, as any brother of the craft with whom we 

 are acquainted. We have found it, in short, to 

 answer every purpose to be every thing that a 

 hook ought to be ; and if our angling has not been 

 t so successful as that of others, or as it ought, with 

 our opportunities and practice, to have been, we 

 do not dream of blaming the hook for our infe- 

 riority. The Limerick hooks are preferred by 

 many anglers, and, as far as temper and point are 

 concerned, they certainly cannot be surpassed; 

 but we object to their shape, which we think very 

 inferior to a straight shank and a crooked bend. 

 We refer, however, exclusively to the smaller 

 sizes used for trout fishing, believing those for 

 salmon flies to be infinitely superior to every other 



