15 



thinking portion of the angling public, and notably, during the 

 last year or two, by American writers on the subject e.g., Mr. H. 

 P. Wells, the latest and most famous exponent of scientific 

 fishing, author of " The American Salmon Fisherman" " Fly Rods 

 and Fly Tackle" &c. ; as also by Mr. Nelson A. Cheney, President 

 of the New York Fish and Game Protection Association, and 

 the talented co-author of the admirable American treatise 

 " Fishing with the fly." Without recapitulating the argument, as 

 somewhat beyond the scope of this essay, I will merely observe 

 here that the three cardinal principles which govern the " killing " 

 (i.e., striking, penetrating and holding power of a fish-hook) are 



(1) the length of the shank compared with the width of the bend; 



(2) the angle at which the short, or point-side, of the hook stands 

 in relation to the shank ; and (3) the shape of the point and barb 

 themselves. In proportion as the point is fine, and conically 

 tapered (which necessarily includes the barb not being too 

 " rank "), so, other things being equal, will be its tendency to bury 

 itself in whatever it comes in contact with ; as the direction of this 

 barbed point, and the angle of the short or point-side, coincides 

 with the direction of the applied force (i.e., in this case the 'pull 1 

 of the line) so will be its hooking and penetrating inclination ; and 

 as the shank is long in proportion to the width of the bend, so 

 will be the general power it gives the hook in striking a fish and 

 in holding him when struck. 



It may be added that, as the greatest strain is always borne 

 by the top angle of the bend, such angle should be formed, not 

 ' square,' but in the strongest shape known to mechanics, viz., a 

 curve (or the segment of a circle) sharper or more gradual accord- 

 ing to the other conditions desiderated. 



Although it is very difficult to give an accurate rendering of 

 fish-hooks by means of wood-engraving, a glance at the pre- 

 ceding diagrams will I hope convince the ' educated ' eye that 



