I have even made a hook, which, though a little inferior in form, in other respects, I think I could boast as equal to the Limerick ones.
I never used any hooks for salmon-fishing except those which I am sure have been made by O’Shaughnessy of Limerick; for even those made in Dublin, though they seldom break, yet they now and then bend; and the English hooks, made of cast-steel, in imitation of Irish ones, are the worst of all.
Hooks, to whip on.—When hooks are armed, especially to hair, it should be done with small but strong silk, well rubbed with shoemaker’s wax, after having smoothed the shank with a whetstone, to hinder its fretting; from a straw’s breadth below the top of the hook, wrap the silk about the bare shank until it comes to the top, which will prevent its slipping, or cutting the line from frequently using; then lay the hair or gut on the inside and whip the silk downwards almost to the bend of the hook; the colour of the arming silk should be as near that of the baits used as may be, and its size be regulated by the thickness of the wire, hair, or gut, to which it is joined. In whipping on a hook, it is to be held in the left hand, and the silk whipped down to within four turns of its bend; the shank is then to be taken between the fore finger and thumb of the left hand, and the end of the silk close to it, holding them both tight, and leaving the ends of the silk to hang down; the other part of the silk is then to be drawn into a large loop, and with the right hand, turning backwards, continue the whipping for four turns, and draw the end of the silk, which has hung down under the left thumb, close, and cut it off.—Salmonia—Wild Sports—Daniel.
Hook, v. To catch with a hook; to entrap; to draw as with a hook.
Hooked, a. Bent, curvated.
Hooknosed, a. Having the aquiline nose rising in the middle.
Hoop, s. Anything circular by which something else is bound, particularly casks or barrels.
The hoop net is a very destructive engine. For large and deep waters the mesh should be an inch and three quarters, the length full nine feet, and the hoops (of which that in the centre should be iron, rounded like a curtain rod, and painted red to prevent its rusting) should be strong and three feet high. In laying hoop nets, place them where the water gets tolerably deep from a gravelly scour. All the infallible attraction of brass candlesticks, yellow ribands, flowers, and looking-glasses, are superseded by the arcanum of encircling a live fish brought from other waters in each hoop net; whether the old inhabitants approach the stranger out of vengeance or curiosity remains a mystery, but that they will run into the hoop net to get at him, Mr. Daniel positively insists. It was a secret which an old gamekeeper would not impart, until after being in his service for many years.—Daniel.
Hoop, v. To bind or enclose with hoops; to encircle; to clasp.