APPENDIX ON FISHING-TACKLE. 329 



putting away, or they will be pretty sure to rot. Uncoil the wetted 

 part on your return from fishing, and wind it thinly over the back 

 of a chair, or spread it about in large coils. 



HOOKS. 



The principal varieties now in use are : 



1. KIRBY. 2. LIMERICK. 3. KENDAL. 4. SNECK-BEND. 



THE KIRBY HOOK is that which is principally used by English 

 anglers. The circular form of its bend inclining slightly to an angular 

 flexure about its centre, seems peculiarly favourable for retaining a 

 fish when hooked. This hook has now been a general favourite for 

 nearly two centuries, during which period it has undergone gradual 

 improvement ; and as its 13 sizes are registered in many of the treatises 

 on angling, and the numbers are still recognised, we think it as well to 

 annex Salter's figures of them, the original cut happening to be in our 

 possession. (See Angling Apparatus, Plate 1.) 



THE LIMERICK HOOKS are commonly well manufactured, and some 

 anglers prefer them to all others for their temper ; and among them 

 the distinguished author of " Salmonia," who says, " I never use any 

 hooks for salmon-fishing except those that I am sure have been made 

 by O'Shaughnessy of Limerick." 



THE KENDAL HOOK has also its admirers. In our early angling we 

 always used them ; and if we could procure them somewhat shorter in 

 the shanks, there are some sorts of fine fishing in which their acuteness 

 of angle in the barb would be an advantage. We are disposed to 

 think, also, that for the gristly-mouthed fish, they would, if shortened, 

 be less liable to be retracted than barbs which project ; but in leather- 

 mouthed fishes they are decidedly objectionable. Their butt, and the 

 part to which the barb is attached, forming nearly parallel lines, render 

 them preferable to the Limerick hooks in not retreating from the bite, 

 a superiority which admits of mathematical proof. 



THE SNECK-BEND projects laterally in its barb from the parallel of 

 the butt, diverging gradually from the bend about the eighth of an inch 

 to the right or left of the shank, commonly the left. The angular 

 form of the bend gives an unnatural appearance to the worm, which 

 makes it objectionable (although not so for gentles) ; nor is it adapted 

 for paste, the square corner bend being difficult to cover, and the paste 

 liable to be soon washed bare. 



1. Kirby. 2. Limerick. 3. Keudal. 4. Sueck-bend. 



There are many other kinds of hooks, but the pretended advantages 



