30 FLY-FISHING AND FLY-MAKING. 



Next in point of favor comes the dace or dare, and next, 

 the gudgeon. Says honest Jack Falstaff, "Why, if a 

 dace be a bait for an old pike, may I not grab him ?" 

 So, from, these irrefragable facts, even the pike "fell, 

 tyrant of the watery plain," though he be, does, possess 

 a sense quite worthy of the appellation taste. 



And now, in regard to trout, which chiefly concerns us 

 here though a passing consideration of other fish is emi- 

 nently useful in order to lead to a wide comprehension of 

 the subject who shall assert its lack of discrimination 

 in matters gastronomic ? Can it not tell the difference 

 between the flavor of a spent May fly and a female Green 

 Drake full of luscious, creamy eggs ? Or, between the 

 various kind of flies, which at different times may be 

 upon the water. When the beautiful Blue Dan is rising, 

 I have seen that it alone is taken, to the absolute ex- 

 clusion of other flies ; yet, the trout are hungry, or why 

 do they feed, and if they do not discriminate, why not 

 feed on everything before them ? * 



The meaning of the word taste requires exposition in 

 this connection. First It indicates a perception of 

 pleasant or unpleasant tastes in foods or liquids conveyed 

 to the mouth. Second The sense of taste is in inti- 

 mate connection with the stomach, and that which 

 violently disagrees with this organ is usually unpleasant 

 and rejected instinctively. 



Here are two instances of the antipathies of European 

 fresh water fishes, which cannot be accounted for in the 

 absence of a sense of taste in the fish: 



(1.) Koach (Leuciscus rutilus) are often taken in great 

 numbers by a bait made of flour paste. In the full tide 



