CHAPTER V 



THE SENSES OF TROUT AND HOW THEY AFFECT 

 THE FISHERMAN. 



The vision of a trout Horizontal sight Vertical sight These factors 

 as they affect the fisherman. 



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

 the flavour of different kinds of food, but, so far as I am 

 aware, it has not been decided whether it is their olfactory 

 organs which 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 

 hackle 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 flyfishing 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 experiments until some perfect mixture has 

 been discovered. 



Trout are undoubtedly sensible to colour distinctions, and 

 they can also detect the most subtle differences in the shade 

 and tint of the different parts of the various water insects 

 on which they feed, whether the difference exists in the 

 wings, the hackle, or the body of the fly. It is fortunate, 

 therefore, for the fisherman that there are not only 



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