116 SUPPLEMENT TO THE BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



As the hooks that are most in vogue in the United States, 

 as the Sproat, O'Shaughnessy, Carlisle, Aberdeen, Dublin- 

 bend, and hollow-point Limerick, are all numbered accord- 

 ing to the Red ditch system, and agree very closely in all 

 the sizes, it would be in the nature of a calamity to change 

 it for the Kendal or any other system. 



SNELLING HOOKS. 



It has been recommended, in tying gut snells to hooks, 

 to heat the shank of the hook and coat it with rubber or 

 other cement, or wax, and to soften the gut by soaking, or 

 to crimp it by biting with the teeth or pinching it with 

 pliers"; but let me caution the tyro, and advise him to do 

 nothing of the kind. It destroys the temper of a hook to 

 heat it, and burns off the protective coating ; it breaks the 

 fiber of the gut to bite or crimp it; and when the gut is 

 expanded by soaking and tied on, it shrinks upon drying, 

 and leaves the wrapping loose. 



The best way to tie a gut snell to a hook is to use nothing 

 but well-waxed silk thread, and to wrap evenly and tightly. 

 If properly done it will never pull off. Rubber cement 

 loses its life after a time, becoming brittle, and rots the 

 silk wrapping ; and so will all cements, sooner or later, from 

 constant wetting and drying. At the best, if they do no 

 good they may do harm, and it is folly to use them when 

 they can better be dispensed with. 



In tying a hook to gut, use the best sewing-silk the 

 finest for very small hooks and coarser for larger ones; use 

 red shades as they seem to be stronger, and the color is 

 suitable. The silk must be well-waxed, and there is nothing 

 better for the purpose than the best light- colored shoemak- 



