Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-14
"A TALE OF FLIES
AND FISH HOOKS

ter of bone or a bit of sharp shell
or stone, covered with bait and at
'tached to. string, doubtless made of bark
fibre or plated grass.
would generally fasten this primitive hook
crossways in its throat Thorns were used
in the same manner, as thorns are still en-
ployed IN fishing in some parts Of France.
When the human race had progressed so
far that bronze began to be used. they com
menced to improve the straight gorge, and
the present fsh-hook form was first limited at
by bending or curving the ends of ine gorge
upward.
From this, the transformation to the fish
hook of today was simple, and bronze Ish-
hooks, closely resembling ours, are to be
found IN many museums. The barb was hrst
put on the outside of the hook instead of
the inside.
The South Sea Islanders make a hook Of
pieces Of pearl shell, fastened together with
bark. This bright and glittering substance
attracts fish, and requires little if any, bait;
The Alaska Indians make their hooks OF
wood, fastening in bit of iron as barb.
There has always been, and doubtless al
ways will be-. discussion among anglers as TO
which form of hook is better-the Kirby. tlat
is hook with the point twisted to one side,
or the straight hook, such as the Aberdeen
or sproat.
In the past the Kirby bend was the fa-
vorite, but experience has shown that the
straight hook with its direct penetration il
the better style, and the other is rapidly go
ing out of use.
Of course, with small fish it matters little
one way or the other, as their mouths are
tender and take any hook easily, but when 1t
comes to such fish as tarpon, salmon, large
striped bass, or even black bass. no angler
ever uses Kirby hook.
1t would be difficult to say when artificial
flies first came into Use. The oldest books
on angling mention them, and rude representa-.
tions of artificial bats, made apparently OF
feathers, have been found engraved on an
cient Egyptian monuments.
Our ancestors, ages ago, fashioned lmlta-
tions of bugs out of bits of stone and shell,
not unlike some of the pearl and wooden
bats of today.
Most of the artificial flies used in our wa
ters are copies of English patterns, many are
limitations of natural insects, while others are
mere fancy designs. But the trout seem to
take both equally well without any regard to
the fierce war raging between the two schools
of fly fishermen-one of which pins its faith
to the close copies of the real insects, while
the other believes that any combination will
take trout just as well.
Practically speaking, there is no difference
flies-such as the coachman, grizzly king, pro-
fessor, brown and red hackles, silver doctor
and ibis-that may be called fancy patterns,
and yet they are used wherever trout swim
and are excellent flies. The professor and
grizzly king were first made and used by
Professor Wilson christopher North(
Trout are somewhat like human beings, the
wilder they are the more gaudy must be the
colors of the fly; whereas well-educated fish
prefer the smaller and more quiet colored
patterns.
There are probably not fewer than three hum
dred named varieties of artificial flies in use,
most of which are fancy patterns, made up
without regard to any natural flies. To make
these the whole world is ransacked for fur
and feathers
Bustard, argus pheasant and Jungle cock
come from India, golden and silver pheasant
from China ostrich from Africa, scarlet ibis
and macaw from South America, grouse, blue
jay and peacock from England, and wood
dack, mallard, teal, wild turkey and the. va
rious hackles from our own country. These
are but small part of the list of birds fur
nishing the feathers required by fly dressers.
IL NAV not be generally known that the
gut used in smelling hooks and flies is made
from silkworms, and not from catgut. When
the caterpillars are ready to spin, they are
broken apart, and the two little sacs contain
ing the raw silk matter are stretched out and
dried. The best quality is made in Spain.
Salmon gut is simply thick alkworm gut
used for making salmon leaders, and it is
not made from the insides of the fish.
The outfit necessary for a trouting trip Is
as follows. One fly rod, a plain click reel
furnished with twenty-five to thirty-five yards
Of waterproof silk line, fly book containing
two or three dozen flies on No: or No. 10
hooks. half dozen six or nine-foot leaders,
few bait hooks and a box of split shot, bait
box and a fish basket, or, more correctly speak
inc. creel A small short-handled landing
net. which may be hung on button of the
coat. is almost necessary; it certainly will
save many a good fish.