238 



Book of the Black Bass. 



thfi small gut loop at the head of the fly, and over the lat- 

 .ter, and then drawn tight, making a very neat and secure 

 attachment — neater and more secure than by any form of 

 eyed hook with knotted snell. The eye of the new hook is 

 so small that, except in large sizes, a doubled gut can not 

 be passed through it, consequently it must be fastened by 

 a single gut with some sort of knot. It is best suited for 

 the very small hooks, on which the trout flies of England 

 are usually tied, and for the very finely drawn, or gossa- 

 mer gut, of which the snells are made. 



The eyed hook is. however, gradually coming into vogue, 

 e&peeiaUy for small trout flies, and to some extent for small 

 bass flies. The Pennell turned-up e}'e seems to be the 

 favorite, though the Hall turned-down eye is perhaps as 

 good, at least so far as the form of the eye is concerned. 



I have found a lack of uniformity in the size and form 

 of the eye in both hooks, and in many the eye is not 

 smoothly finished. 



Heretofore the eyed hooks have all been of the Limerick 

 pattern, but lately they are being made with the Sproat 

 bend, which is better adapted for small bass flies. 



There are several kinds of knots used for fastening the 



