HOOKS FOR BOTTOM-FISHING. 223 



Hooks for bottom-fishing with worms should be 

 long in the shank and perfectly round in the bend, 

 with the barb and point not inclining inwards. 

 On such hooks you can easily put your worms 

 without injuring them. If your hooks are sneck- 

 bent you will feel a difficulty in threading your 

 worm, and as you force it up you will often find 

 the point of your bent hook penetrating through 

 its sides, spoiling the bait in more ways than one, 

 rendering it less lively, and liable to break even 

 by the motion of the water. Hooks for gentles, 

 greaves, paste and so forth, may be short in the 

 shank, and sneck-bent, for they are more readily 

 covered by the bait and will not let it slip oif so 

 easily as the straightly rounded hooks. All bait 

 hooks should be whipped on as delicately as pos- 

 sible, with silk the colour of the bait you use, and 

 waxed with almost colourless wax, at least not 

 colour-giving, like shoe-maker's wax so very 

 generally and improperly used. Hooks should be 

 whipped on from towards the bend, and the whip- 

 ping should be terminated by a couple of almost 

 imperceptible slip-knots, leaving a little of the 

 end of the shank bare. If the beginning of your 

 whipping be rudely done, showing a commence- 

 ment glaringly thicker than the wire of your hook, 

 an obstruction will exist fatal to putting on your 

 bait easily, and without injuring it, particularly 

 if it be a worm. Allowing the slightest por- 



