330 APPENDIX ON FISHING-TACKLE. 



of one hook over the other are very problematical : the great object is 

 to get them well made, neither so soft as to draw like a pin, nor so 

 brittle as to snap on a slight pressure. 



A good hook should be well tempered, and, for some purposes, be long 

 in the shank ; whatever portion is superfluous in dressing a short-bodied 

 fly can easily be taken off with a pair of nippers. Some flies, as the 

 dragon-fly, the stone-fly, and the spider-fly, require to be dressed very 

 long in the body, and therefore call for long-shanked hooks. A long 

 shank is likewise necessary for worm-fishing ; and if it taper off a little, 

 it offers a neater dress for a fly, and a neater whipping for any other 

 bait. There should be small indentations on the shank to sustain the 

 whipping. 



BARBEL HOOKS differ from other hooks only in being made of much 

 stronger wire, by which they gain an increase of strength without a 

 corresponding increase of linear dimensions; in other words, the 

 capacity for resistance in a No. 3 barbel-hook is equal to that of a 

 No. 1 of the common sort ; and this is evidently of much consequence 

 on some occasions, where the fish, though large, strong, and violent, is 

 very wary, and has a small mouth. 



EEL HOOKS form also a separate variety, and are made either double 

 or single. (See Plate 1 of Angling Apparatus, figs. 3, 4.) These, like 

 the barbel hooks, are made massive, and are less highly tempered than 

 the usual hooks, that they may not snap by the struggles of these fish. 

 The bend is usually rather square, the shank short, and the point bent 

 inward, to avoid scratching the eel in its suction of the bait. 



As on the material of which a hook is made the angler's success so 

 much depends, it is very necessary that each hook be tried before it 

 is appended to the line. Every fish-hook should resist all ordinary 

 force applied without snapping. To try the points apply the thumb- 

 nail to them, and if they neither bend nor break they are fit for the 

 purpose wanted. The general strength of the whole hook may be 

 judged by inserting the point of one in a cork, or piece of soft wood, 

 and forcing it. 



THE GAFF-HOOK, which may or may not be barbed, is an instrument 

 used in landing large fish. (See Plate 1 of Angling Apparatus.) As it 

 is somewhat inconvenient to carry when attached to its rod or staff, 

 various ways to render it portable have been devised. It is sometimes 

 slung across the shoulders attached to a short staff, 2 feet 6 inches or 

 3 feet, and sometimes affixed to a telescope-handle, which sliding into 

 a very short length can be carried in a side-pocket. Some adopt the 

 plan of having the gaff-stick in two or three pieces, about 18 inches 

 each, to screw together similar to a gun-cleaning stick, which can be 

 carried detached in pockets made for the purpose, inside the left front 

 of the fishing-jacket. The time when the gaff, mounted on its rod, 

 proves particularly convenient, is in pike or salmon-fishing, when the 

 angler is alone. When portability is not an object, the gaff should be 

 fixed on a rod, about 5 feet 6 inches long, of hickory, as fir is hardly 

 to be depended on where much stress is to be laid on it. The gaff 

 rod is eminently useful in wading streams, and it may be used as a 

 landing-handle, with the portable or hinged landing-net. Of late years 



