As to the selection of the best shape of hook for fly tying, there is a difference of opinion between the editors of this work, and the reader will have to choose between them. One favors his own discovery and what has come to be called the "needlepoint hook," because it was originally made from the pointed half of a needle, and the other prefers the sproat. The needle point hook has no barb, being in this particular like the hook of the Chinese, but the point is carried well forward. There is no danger from what most people would suppose might be the objection to it - the loss of fish after they are hooked. It holds precisely as well as if it had a barb, but the point is so long that there is risk - in the opinion of the associated author - of the fish rising short and pulling vigorously at the tail feathers of the suppositious insect without getting his lips over the point. This may only be an objection in certain waters and with shy-rising fish, but it is guarded against by the sproat in which the point of the hook is almost at the very tail of the fly. The approval or disapproval of the needle point or barbless hook will depend probably upon the habits of the trout among which it is used. If they rise well it will be accepted, if they rise short it will be discarded. The want of a barb has one great advantage, the fish can be so readily and quickly taken off the hook. This is sometimes of great importance to the fish breeder who may use a needle point hook in order not to injure the fish he wishes to take and keep for spawners.