136 TIPS. 



THE IMPROVED LONG SHANKED HOOK. 



These hooks, made to my order by Allcock and Co., Standard 

 Works, Redditch, are sold by Farlow of London, Blacklaws of 

 Kincardine O'Neil, Hardy of Alnwick, and Garden of Aberdeen 

 Made of the best steel, they are forged and hammered at tlie sides, 

 so that the wire is reduced in thickness and yet increased in strength. 

 They have other advantages. In the first place they can be used in 

 larger sizes, and this is of supreme importance on such rivers as, for 

 instance, the Dee and Spey. Again, as the point declines rather 

 more than usual from the shank, they hook and hold salmon far 

 better than the old sort ; in fact, the barb often goes clean through the 

 flesh. During the Spring of 1 8g6, for example, the gillie at Carlogie, 

 William Dunn, gaffed over thirty salmon for me, and in nearly every 

 case found that the point of the hook had passed completely through 

 the mouth of the fish. In addition to this, not to mention other 

 instances when being alone, in the Autumn of igoo, Mr. R. H. 

 Benson, hshing with me, witnessed a similar result time after time. 

 This well-known angler and many other of my friends dress ail their 

 flies on nothing else. They range in size from six inches downwards, 

 the largest being No. i and the smallest No. 17 ; and it should be said 

 that my success has been considerably increased since using them. 



Except in a few instances on the Tweed and Usk, anglers are 

 gradually discovering that thin-bodied flies are the most eff'ectual. 

 And when it comes to using larger patterns — in which case with the 

 old heavy irons it was impossible to make a very thin body or cast 

 beyond a limited distance — fish lying five-and-thirty yards away can 

 be covered without any wonderful display of skill. 



