FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 



has been lost through the hook snapping off short behind the barb. It is 

 a trite saying that the strength of every object must be gauged by its 

 weakest part, yet how often does one see flies tied upon hooks that have 

 been thinned away in forming the barb. It requires but a moderate exer- 

 cise of intelligence to convince one that the wire should be as thick at that 

 particular part as in any other; and, if foresight should fail to warn one 

 of this, experience will be sure to enforce the lesson, for it is immediately 

 behind the barb that fracture most commonly takes place, whether in a 

 fish's mouth or by striking a stone in casting. 



It is not easy to decide which is most objectionable — ^under -tempered 

 hooks that bend, or over -tempered hooks that snap, under strain; but it 

 is quite within anybody's power to avoid both of these defects by pur- 

 chasing from tackle-makers of repute, who will not supply any but hooks 

 of the best manufacture and submit each hook to a separate test. There 

 are two or three firms of hook-makers of so good reputation that their 

 names alone are guarantees of excellence of quality, but there is one re- 

 spect in which the angler's discrimination is required, namely, in the 

 proportion the barb is made to bear to the bend. It is the custom of 

 manufacturers to maintain the same proportion in all sizes of hook, 

 thereby misinterpreting the true function of the barb, which is to prevent 

 the withdrawal of the point after it has penetrated. A small barb effects 

 this just as surely as a large one, and has the advantage of being much 

 more likely than the large one to bury itself in the thin cartilaginous, 

 muscular, or membranous layers which protect the bones of a salmon's 

 mouth. The exaggerated barbs which one sometimes sees, especially in 

 hooks of the Limerick bend, must considerably interfere with the chance 

 of firmly hooking a fish. 



To make what I mean clear I have taken from my box two old flies, both 

 of which have landed several spring salmon, the hook of one having an 

 exaggerated barb (Fig. 3, Plate VI), that of the other a moderate one (Fig. 4). 

 It will be seen how much more readily the smaller barb may be buried than 

 the larger one; it might with advantage be made even smaller; for a 

 barb, however small, is quite enough to retain a good hold. 



Provided the shank is not too short or the barb too big, the pattern of 

 hook may be left to the angler's discretion. I suppose that in salmon 

 fishing there are 100 Limerick bend hooks used for every one of other 

 patterns, and, subject to the conditions above mentioned, there is per- 

 haps none better. Many years ago, before I took to using double irons, 

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