THE KOACH. 97 



open when you strike a fish with them. A fish with a hard, 

 leathery mouth takes a hook of this fine wire, and instead of 

 it at once penetrating the jaw, it springs open, and the barb 

 is not buried, and the result is the loss of the fish. I like a 

 hook of a medium length in the shank, and moderately stout 

 in the wire ; and if you take notice of your hooks, you will see 

 that the points of some point outwards from the shank, while 

 others point inwards. I like those pointing inwards, for I 

 have fancied that I have hooked my fish better with them. 

 When the point stands very much outwards, the hook is liable 

 to cut itself out ; but when they stand inwards they are more 

 liable to take, as it were, a fresh grip the further ttiey go in. 

 These hooks should be very neatly and closely whipped to the 

 gut, and the best sizes you can use will be No. 8 lor the tail, 

 end of lob- worms ; No. 9 for cockspurs, paste, creed wheat, or 

 malt : Nos. 10, 11, and 12 for gentles, according to the biting 

 of the fish, or the fineness of the water, and all these hooks 

 should be the bright, round bend, Carlisle hooks. If the 

 water is fine, use a small hook, and when you whip these 

 hooks to the gut be sure and have the gut on the inside of 

 the shank : and, as I have before said, use gut that is round 

 smooth drawn, and of the very finest description. If the 

 angler, however, fancies he would like a hair tackle, the 

 best hairs for the purpose are those from the tail of a young 

 chestnut horse. Black hairs are not so good ; in fact, don't 

 have them if you can get anything else. Personally, I have 

 long since discarded hair in favour of the very finest gut, 

 and this gut should be stainel as recommended in Chapter 

 II. During the summer and autumn, or, indeed, any time 

 when you can get them, gentles or maggots are the best bait 

 you can have for roach. Some fishers like white maggots-, 

 and some yellow ; the yellow ones are the best ; they are best 

 procured from a bullock's liver; hangth s liver up somewhere 

 where the blowflies frequent, only before so doing slash it all 

 over with a knife, the flies will then lay their eggs in the 

 crevices ; when it appears to be sufficiently blown, it should 

 be taken down and put in a vessel of some kind ; in a few 

 days the eggs will have hatched, and in a few more will 

 have fed themselves up to their full size. They should then 



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