HOOKS AND KNOTS 89 



the perfect length. A round wire (Fig. 1) will 

 spring much more than an oval one (Fig. 2), 

 so that the "oval" enables us to form an ideal 

 hook more correctly, as we have less calculation 

 to make for this spring. In the oval wire 

 hooks, all this has been determined by actual 

 tests with a rod, both on the bony and fleshy 

 parts of a fish's mouth, in order to get as perfect 

 a proportion as possible. When fishing, the rod 

 point is, say 1 to 2 feet from the surface of the 

 water, and the fly 25 yards away, so that the 

 pull is almost directly in line with the shank of 

 the hook. If a direct line be carried from the 

 rod's point to the end of the shank of the hook, 

 and another to the point of it, they will only 

 vary about half an inch ; if, therefore, the point 

 be parallel with the shank, the pull is almost 

 directly on it, and this clearly shows that the 

 point should be deflected a little. 



The question of gut loops versus metal eyes, 

 is by no means so important in salmon as it is 

 in trout fly hooks. To the dry-fly fisher, the 

 introduction of the metal eye, both up-turn and 

 down-turn, has been a perfect godsend, but in 

 a salmon fly the advantage is questionable. We 

 are old-fashioned enough to prefer the twisted 

 gut loop, which if of proper size and thickness, 

 will outlast the fly. Personally, we have seldom 

 seen this detail of a fly fail if properly constructed 



