36 FISHERMEN'S WEATHER 



Fish dazzled The success which attends bass fishing, 

 as has just been noted, on days of glaring 

 sunlight has always seemed to me capable 

 of explanation by the fact that they are 

 dazzled by the sun. Bass, it must be 

 borne in mind, enter estuaries like that of 

 the Teign, not with any idea, like salmon, 

 of ascending to the upper reaches to 

 deposit their eggs, but solely in order to 

 feed on the sand-eels and mackerel-fry, 

 which they have previously followed into 

 the brackish water. When, therefore, a 

 hungry bass is dazzled "by the glare of a 

 July sun shining right in its eyes, it prob- 

 ably sees nothing but the bait, and for 

 that it makes a dash without heeding 

 the fine gut -line beyond. Sir Herbert 

 Maxwell, whose researches into the ques- 

 tion of vision in salmon and trout have 

 prompted theories that have been widely 

 discussed in angling circles, is also of 

 opinion that fish, which have no eyelids 

 to shield their eyes from the sun's glare, 

 are peculiarly susceptible to this effect of 

 dazzling. 



