Hooks. 341 



Some writers advise laying the gut on the back of the 

 shankj but it is much better and more proper to place it 

 on the front or inside of the shank. When it is on the 

 back the direction of the traction and the strain is away 

 from the end of the shank, and has a tendency to stretch 

 or loosen the wrapping at that point ; while with the gut in 

 front of the shank this is obviated, as can be easily demon- 

 strated, by placing the point of the hook against the ball 

 of the thumb and making traction on the snell. 



M"ow, then, to tie a tapered hook to gut, proceed as fol- 

 lows : First wax the silk well ; then take the hook between 

 the thumb and forefinger of the left-hand (if you are right- 

 handed), with the end of the shank to the right, and the 

 barb uppermost; beginning at about the middle of the 

 shank make several spiral turns of the silk to within one- 

 thirty-second of an inch of the tapered point, then lay the 

 gat along the inside of the shank for half its length, for 

 small and medium-sized hooks, or one-third for large hooks, 

 and begin wrapping the silk around the gut and shank, and 

 wrap -firmly, evenly and closely down toward the bend of 

 the hook, using as much strain in wrapping as the silk 

 will bear, and continue the wrapping for a short distance, 

 or six or eight turns, below the end of the gut. Begin the 

 wrapping just below the en's of the shank, leaving its tip 

 bare, and finish the wrapping with the invisible knot. 



The invisible knot is formed in two ways : one by revers- 

 ing the hook in the fingers of the left hand, so that the 

 shank points to the left, and laying the silk along the shank 

 with its end beyond the end of the shank, leaving a loop of 

 the silk to continue the wrapping, around the shank, gut 

 and silk, passing the loop over and around the bend of the 

 hook at each turn, until four or five turns are made, and 

 then drawing the silk back by its end, through the turns, 

 16 



