THE SALMON ANGLER'S OUTFIT 

 I felt dissatisfied with the performance of Limerick hooks and gave the 

 Sproat bend a thorough trial. It was claimed for the Sproat that from the 

 point of the hook not being ranked outwards, the line pulled at a flatter 

 angle than with the Limerick, as shown in Fig. 5, whereby the point 

 was more likely to be driven home than to scratch the fish's mouth. I 

 devoted ten days' consecutive fishing to testing (1) the Limerick or quasi- 

 Limerick in common use in Scotland, (2) Messrs Hutchinson's Kendal 

 Limerick, which is more finely barbed, and (3) the Sproat bend. The 

 result stands as follows in my fishing book, having been carefully noted 

 at the time. K. stands for "killed," H. for "hooked and lost," R. for 

 "raised, and perhaps pricked." 



No. 1. K. R. K. R. K. K. H. H. R. R. R. H. K. R R K. R. R. H. (line broke), R. H. 

 (hook broke). 



No. 2. K. R. R. R. R. R. K. K. H. R. R. R. K. R. R. R. R. H. H. R. K. K. K. K. K. 

 K. K. H. H. R. R. R. R. K. H. (hook broke), K. K. R. K. K. R. K. 



No. 3. K. K. K. K. K. R. K. R. R. K. (foul hooked), H. (hook broke), R. K. H. R. 

 H. K. R. 



In this trial the Sproat certainly came out best. Out of eighteen rises 

 It killed ten, lost three (one from a broken hook) and missed or pricked 

 five. 



The Kendal Limerick out of forty -two rises killed seventeen, hooked 

 and lost seven (one from a broken hook), missed or pricked eighteen. 



The Scottish Limerick out of twenty rises killed six, hooked and lost 

 five (line broken once and hook once), missed or pricked nine. 



The hooks ranged from 5/0 down to 6, according to water and weather. 

 In consequence of this experience I continued to use Sproat hooks for 

 several seasons, until I became a convert to double hooks in any sizes from 

 3/0 downwards. For single hooks above that size I do not think there is 

 much to choose between good Limerick and Sproat. 



The question is often debated whether a salmon fly should be dressed 

 on a single hook or a double one. Opinion is much and deeply divided on 

 the subject; but, on the whole, it gravitates in favour of double hooks for 

 small flies. Objectors allege that one hook is apt to act as a lever to 

 prise out the other, but that is impossible if the point has gone home 

 over the barb. The fact is that a percentage of fish will free themselves 

 whether from single or double hooks, and one may feel it safer having 

 two hooks in a heavy salmon than when the connexion depends on a single 

 F 33 



