76 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



pointed part of the hook at something more than a right angle 

 away from the shank ; the barbs themselves of my hooks are 

 long and finely-pointed, straight-tipped, and as regards the out- 

 side hne exactly level with the rest of the hook — the hook- 

 makers persist, in spite of all I can say, in making the barbs 

 short, hollowed out on the inside, and turned outwards on the 

 outside. 



Whatever applies to a single hook applies, d, fortiori, to a 

 triangle; indeed, there bemg three hooks in the one case, 

 and only one in the other, it may be fairly said that the 

 argument acquires a threefold force. My experience of hook- 

 makers and their idiosyncracies, being what I have described, 

 I have as a precautionary measure furnished Messrs. Harrison, 

 Bartleet and Co., of Redditch, with correct models of my hooks 

 from which to work. 



Triangles are now brazed, that is, soldered, together — a 

 great improvement on the old-fashioned system of lapping 

 them together with silk. From No. 5 to No. 10 are the sizes 

 I generally find the most convenient for dressing pike spinning- 

 flights. 



TAIL HOOKS. 



It will be noticed that in the foregoing diagrams of flights 

 the large tail-hook and small reverse-hook are made in a single 

 piece. When my attention was first directed to the subject of 

 spinning- tackle, I found that one of the chief drawbacks of the 

 old-fashioned flights was the working out of the fixed hooks 

 owing to the strain of the curved bait's tail. I'he fixed hooks 

 were, of course, set in the usual way, pointing towards the head. 

 In order to remedy this and other minor defects, I substituted 

 for the small single tail-hook a long-shanked round-bend hook, 

 with a smaller reverse-hook made in a single piece {jiide cut\ 

 which, at any rate, fulfilled its object better than any other 

 plan then made public, and in this form they have been very 

 generally adopted by spinners, and may be purchased of various 



