314 The Trout s of America 



swarminsf with the small white-bellied channel cat- 

 fish, than which no more delightful breakfast food 

 ever came out of the water, the only bait used to 

 catch them was made of Limburger cheese, mixed 

 with a patch of cotton-batting to hold it firm on 

 the hook. No other lure had the same attraction 

 for them, because, no doubt, of the decided odor 

 of the cheese. 



The so-called fifth sense, that of touch, is as 

 acute in trout as it is in many other fresh-water 

 fish. Find one in the shadow of a bank or shelv- 

 ing rock, and touch him with a feather, and there 

 is nothing to be seen but a thread of silver and 

 gold as it flashes out of sight; on the other 

 hand, and under somewhat similar conditions, if 

 the trout is in deep repose (that is, asleep, for no 

 other word expresses its depth, and fish, like 

 all other animals, must have their periods of abso- 

 lute rest), you will be able to pass your hand, if 

 gently done without touching the body, from the 

 tail forward until your fingers reach the shoulder 

 of the fish, when a sudden grasp will cause its 

 capture ; this is called " tickling a trout," and the 

 practice existed long before the advent of Walton. 

 In one detail of the manner in which it is done, 

 I have never had much confidence — the tickling 



