36 THE SALMON FLY. 



In the accompanying diagram No. 1 the reader will see an exact copy 

 of one of my hooks with a piece of string attached for the purpose of 

 demonstrating the true effect of " the pull " i.e., the string made fast in 

 a line with the shank. 



No. 2 indicates the false effect when the string (or the gut-line, it is 

 immaterial which be used) is attached to a hook with an eye turned up. 



Gut-loops administer to the result of " the pull " ; metal loops (or 

 eyes), besides having other faults, oppose it. Of course, much depends 

 on the material as well as the make of gut-loops, a subject which I shall 

 fully discuss later on. 



I am not in favour of "eyed" hooks. The plain truth is that metal 

 eyes are infinitely worse to fish with than gut-loops. Fix the line to a 

 metal eye of any shape in whatever way you will, and the proverbial 

 "hinge" soon comes in the gut close to the metal ; and this causes the 

 shank to hang in the water instead of keeping in a horizontal position. 



The one solitary advantage in eyed hooks, which, curiously enough, 

 their most ardent champions have overlooked, is that upon them flies can 

 be dressed with extremely slender bodies. (It is quite a relief to find 

 some redeeming quality.) In Ireland this is a decided advantage. 



"Ah! yer honour, give me that!" the shrewd Irish gillie would 

 exclaim; " it's a foine, sleek-bodied divil entoirely." 



But as a set-off against this, the feather work requires careful and 

 very unusual treatment, or the fly will quickly fall to pieces. 



Perhaps I should not quit the subject of the hook's point without 

 just mentioning that a man may start to fish with a hook whose point is 

 bent absolutely sideways if he likes, but the chances of his coming home 

 quite satisfied are not enhanced one atom ; at least, I always found it so. 

 I shall not go so far as to say that double hooks are undoubtedly to 

 be preferred to single. I think so myself ; but I would rather disclose 

 my reasons for so thinking than make a needlessly strong, imperative 

 statement. First, they give a double chance of hooking a fish ; and 

 secondly, a double chance of holding it. 



But, here again a great deal has been written (I must speak plainly) 

 by men ready to pre-judge these hooks from their own unfortunate 

 experience. Of these true Britons one has tried them by his own peculiar 



