TROUT FLY-FISHING IN AMERICA 



saw my fly (a silver spot) light upon the water thirty feet 

 away from where he was lying under a bank, and darted 

 for it like a streak of lightning. And this performance 

 was in plain sight. Certainly this trout had keen vision, 

 otherwise how could it have seen the fly light upon the 

 water at any such distance as thirty feet, and this particu- 

 lar thirty feet was a measured distance made immediately 

 after landing the trout. 



Judging from what many experienced anglers have 

 to say upon this subject, as well as from what I have ob- 

 served and experienced year by year, it seems reasonable 

 to assume, at least so far as the angler is concerned, that 

 trout really have keen eyesight, and that it is only made 

 less keen by circumstances and conditions. 



Doctor James A. Henshall aptly says : 



"My opinion, founded upon numerous experiments, is that 

 fishes see and hear as well, in and through the medium of the 

 water, for all practical purposes, as the angler does through the 

 medium of the atmosphere ; the clearer and more rarefied the me- 

 dium, the clearer and greater the range of vision in both in- 

 stances." 



Another authority, Mr. William C. Harris, says: 



"There is no question, however, as to the high development of 

 the senses of sight, taste and hearing in the trout." 



As to whether or not trout can distinguish between 

 different colors, I believe at this time but few anglers are 

 of the opinion that they cannot. Anglers of wide expe- 

 rience should know full well that trout can distinguish 



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