92 HAVE TROUT AN OLFACTORY SENSE ? 



THE SENSES OF TROUT 



I think it may be accepted as a fact that fish can 

 distinguish the flavour of different kinds of food, but, 

 as far as I am aware, it has not been decided whether 

 their olfactory organs are affected, or whether they 

 possess a sense of taste only. The use of paraffin 

 may cause a more rapid rejection of the artificial fly 

 by the trout, but whether it might not be advisable 

 to apply an odour to the body or heckle of a fly 

 similar to that of the real fly remains to be proved. 

 Fishermen have claimed that certain flavours are 

 beloved of trout, but the result of personal experiment 

 in the application of such flavours to the body of a 

 fly is a branch of fly fishing still very much open to 

 original discovery. I have experimented with various 

 essences, and considered that I met with success by 

 mixing two or three drops of the oil of aniseed with 

 my paraffin-oil. This suggestion may be of some use 

 to my readers, and perhaps induce them to continue 

 such experiment until some perfect mixture has been 

 discovered. 



Trout are undoubtedly sensible to colour dis- 

 tinctions, and, as far as my own experience is con- 

 cerned, I am confident that they can detect the most 

 subtle differences in the shade and tint of the different 

 parts of the various water insects on which they feed. 



I do not consider that trout can appreciate sound 

 as we know it ; rather are they gifted with a fine sense 

 of all vibratory motion. Sound is communicated by 



