50 FISHING TACKLE 



day use by anglers is undoubtedly due to the fish, 

 particularly in overfished water, becoming " edu- 

 cated," so that they know a hook or an artificial fly 

 when they see one so much so that the rough and 

 ready made flies and tackle will not kill fish as of yore. 

 But each year greater and more subtle skill is called 

 for in tackle making if good sport is to be maintained. 

 Fish are extremely keen of vision for near objects, 

 and the delicate tints of the fly or gut cast do not 



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TINNED LONG-SHANK HOOKS, FOR SEA FISHING FOR WHITING. 



escape them. Yet their optic nerves cannot be very 

 sensitive, for to the author's knowledge a fish has 

 been hooked and broken away, only to rise again in 

 a few minutes to another fly and be safely landed, and 

 the last broken hook was piercing the eye, so that 

 the same fish rose within a few minutes of injury 

 to feed again. This insensitiveness to pain should 

 satisfy the most tremulous that angling after all is 

 not such a cruel sport. 



The range of size in hooks is tremendous, varying 



