HOOKS. 287 



in actual service, and the extra care and manipulation, and 

 the superior stock used in the construction of such hooks, 

 make their cost somewhat higher; but this extra amount 

 is money well expended, for the angler can rely upon them 

 with the utmost confidence, provided they are the product 

 of the best makers; there is but one thing left to decide 

 his choice among such hooks, viz., the peculiar bend or 

 form given to the hook, of which there are several that 

 are good enough. I might add, that all first-class hooks 

 are japanned, or black, and that a blued hook is always of 

 an inferior quality. 



As regards the shape and bend of a hook, my first 

 choice for Black Bass angling is the " Sproat Bend," and 

 the next best form, in my opinion, is the "O'Shaughnessy." 

 In general form and bend the two hooks are identical, but 

 their difference consists in the form of barb, and direction 

 of the point. In the latter peculiarities, the Sproat is 

 fashioned after true scientific principles, being a central- 

 draught hook ; that is, the short, squarish, or somewhat 

 angular barb, terminates in an abrupt point, which, if con- 

 tinued upward, would intersect a line drawn from the ex- 

 tremity of the shank and continuous with it. In other 

 words, the direction of the point of the hook is towards 

 the end of the shank. 



When the Sproat hook is tied on a snell, and the point 

 of the hook is held against the ball of the thumb, and 

 traction made on the snell, the direction of the point of 

 the hook is on the same plane, or in the same direction or 

 axis as the line of the snell, thus constituting what is 

 termed a central-draught fish-hook. The wire of the 

 Sproat is a trifle smaller than the O'Shaughnessy, which 



