Hooks. aSS 



(Aberdeen) altogether. Still, many anglers prefer them 

 on account of the small wire, which is not so apt to injure 

 the minnow; but I might say here, that if a minnow is put 

 on with care, it need not be injured to a greater extent, 

 even with the forged Dublin bend hook, than with the 

 Carlisle. The round-bend Carlisle, or Aberdeen hook, 

 has a perfectly round bend, and a long straight shank,; the 

 barb is long, with the point curving outward. 



The " hollow point Limerick " is a very old form of 

 hook, and is still a great favorite with many, notably the 

 veterans of the angle, whose experience with this hook 

 dates back to the heyday of youth. The form of the Lim- 

 erick is well known; it has a straight shank, and a very 

 abrupt bend, with a long, straight, and hollow point. 



The Kirby Carlisle, the Kirby Limerick, and, in fact, 

 any hook with the " Kirby " or side-bend I can not recom- 

 mend for any kind of angling. It is the worst possible 

 crook that can be given to a fish-hook, being both unscien- 

 tific and impracticable. 



The needle-pointed, or hook without a beard or barb, 

 has been recommended for fly-fishing, but it will not an- 

 swer for the black bass. So long as the fish remains in 

 the water, and a proper tension of line is maintained by 

 the angler, it holds as well as any other hook, but when 

 the fish leaps from the water in its struggles to free itself, 

 like the black bass, there is a great liability of its shaking 

 out such a hook. 



Artificial flies, tied on extremely small barbless and 

 needle-pointed hooks with a circular bend, have been used 

 in Japan for centuries, and while such hooks may do for 

 the brook trout, and fishes closely allied to it in habits, 

 they are totally unsuitable for the black bass, or any fish 

 that makes such desperate efforts to get away, when hooked. 



