34 THE, SALMON FLY. 



Perhaps, however, I should just remark that some years ago there 

 appeared a statement in a well-known work on angling, which has been 

 read far and wide, to the effect that, in striking a fish, the " line of pull " 

 ought to coincide with the direction of the force applied ! So plainly did 

 the writer state his ideas, and so convincingly did he express himself 

 about the matter that the worst* hook of all was introduced by somebody 

 or other, and strongly recommended by him. 



Hardly any statement could have been more injurious to Fishermen 

 than this. The " line of pull " has no such meaning, as I intend now to 

 demonstrate. 



On fastening the moistened " cast " to the gut-loop, which we know 

 is best placed under the shank of the hook, the Angler takes about a foot 

 of the attached gut in his right hand, and, whilst holding the bend of the 

 hook in his left, gives a few firm tugs so as to fasten the knot in the 

 position whereby the trace (or cast) shall work as straight as possible in a, 

 true line with the shank. This is what is meant by the " pull," which, 

 in reality, is an expression as well as a scheme of my own. The Angler 

 next proceeds to test his work in the water to play the fly in front of 

 him, in order to see that it swims properly ; for it may yet fail to fish 

 straight, and so require his further attention. The reader may well under- 

 stand that some little time would elapse before the hook, improperly 

 mounted that is, crookedly mounted could work itself, by the strain 

 put on it in casting, into the position which would give it the best chance 

 to penetrate properly. If " the pull " were in a direct line of the point of 

 the hook, in striking the fish the point would be apt only to scrape the 

 skin ; at any rate, it would be more liable to do so than to work into the 

 flesh. 



But I have not quite done with the matter yet. 



In the foregoing engraving we see, so far as my experience extends, the 

 perfection of a hook. In our mind's eye we easily observe what happens 

 when the fly is well mounted and the tackle arranged and attached as 



* I allude to the hook having a turned-up metal eye, with its point turning towards the 

 shank turning inwards, in other words. It is "worst" because (1) it see-saws when " played " 

 in the water, instead of advancing and retreating in a perfectly straight line. (2) Because 

 if it should hook a fish, the subsequent strain of the rod tends to bring the point out instead of 

 sending it in deeper. 



