HOOKS. 47 



starts off. The reason of this is, that when the 

 angler pulls, the pressure upon the point does not 

 pull it straight in, but sideways. The accompanying 

 illustration will assist to explain this. 



No. 1. No. 2. 



n 



No. 1 is a round bent hook of the shape we 

 use ; and No. 2 is a Limerick of the ordinary bend. 

 When the point of a hook comes in contact with 

 anything, the line being attached to the end of the 

 shank, the pressure takes place in the direction of 

 the straight line B A, so that in No. 1 the pressure 

 will be almost in the same direction as the point ; 

 whereas in No. 2 it will be very nearly at right 

 angles to the point, requiring three times the force 

 to fix it, and rendering it exceedingly liable to start 

 off and merely graze the mouth of the fish. As a 

 proof of this, if the angler is using hooks which are 

 not sufficiently tempered, he will frequently, after 

 having fished for some time, find them bent out in 

 the point, showing that the pull was so much off 

 the straight line, that the force which was sufficient 

 to bend the wire was not enough to fix the hook. 

 Whenever this is observed, the angler should restore 

 the hook to its original shape by biting it between 



