108 



to be tested; the smaller ones "by pulling them with 

 the fingers, and the larger ones by a smart pull 

 when suspended over a -wooden peg. The pretended 

 advantages of one kind of bend over another, for 

 hooking and holding fish, remain yet to be con- 

 firmed by experience. If the hook be in other res- 

 pects well made, with a fine point and barb, the 

 angler need not be particular about the bend. The 

 hooks used by anglers are, in England, commonly 

 numbered from 1 to 12; No. 1 being the largest in 

 the series. A smaller hook than No. 12 is sometimes 

 used in fishing for bleak and minnows ; and there are 

 salmon-hooks made two or three sizes larger than No. 1. 

 No. 4 is about the size commonly dressed in the North 

 as a gilse-hook; and salmon-flies are dressed upon Nos. 

 1 to 3, as well as upon hooks of larger size. The sizes 

 mostly required in fly-fishing for trout are from No. 6 

 to No. 10. From 10 to 12 are used in angling for 

 roach, dace, gudgeons, and smelts ; and Nos. 5 and 6 

 are the sizes recommended in fishing with live bait 

 for perch. Barbel, though commonly weighing from 

 three to five pounds many are taken in the season 

 weighing ten pounds, are angled for with a small 

 hook, as they have a comparatively small mouth, 

 and rather suck the bait in than bite at it boldly; 

 and a hook about a No. 9 size, but made thicker and 

 stronger than the common hooks, is frequently used 

 by those who are partial to barbel-fishing. 



Most books on fly-fishing contain long lists of 



