230 Book of the Black Bass. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



HOOKS. 



" For in the Prophet Amos, mention is made of fish-hooks ; and 

 in the book of Job, which was long before the days of Amos, for 

 that book is said to have been written by Moses, mention is made 

 also of fish-hooks, which must imply anglers in those times." — 

 IzAAK Walton. 



The best fish-hooks are made in England, that country 

 supplying the world with hooks of all sizes and styles, for 

 all kinds of fishing. The town of Eedditch has been 

 famous for its fish-hooks for at least two centuries. There, 

 are located the celebrated makers, Harrison, Hemming, 

 MiUward, Bartleet, Warrin, Bates, Alcoek, and others, 

 whose familiar names are almost synonymous with hooks 

 and needles, both articles being usually made by the manu- 

 facturers mentioned. 



There are fish-hooks and fish-hooks, and to the unin- 

 itiated one hook is as good as another ; all they can see in a 

 hook, is the fact that it has a shank, a bend, and a bearded 

 point. But to the angler this contracted view is not suflB- 

 cient. There are many styles of shank, numerous forms 

 of bend, and various ways of fashioning the barb and 

 point, all of which are of the highest practical importance. 

 Some hooks are made for general service, while others are 

 formed exclusively for particular kinds of fish, or for 

 special methods of angling. The fish-hook of to-day is not 

 essentially different from that used by the ancient Greeks 

 and Romans, to the casual observer; but to the practiced 

 eye, the hooks now produced, for form, temper, and 

 strength have never been equaled in the history of, the 

 world. 



