Jan. 30, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
197 
WHY DO SALMON TAKE A FLY? 
Why do chub or barbel, etc., take a spoon¬ 
bait? Surely they do not want that? Therefore 
I think they think that it is evidently something 
good to eat—some tit-bit probably—or a fit 
of pure “cussedness” comes over them to 
destroy something. In a similar manner Jack 
will gently waft his fins and back until his 
formidable snout is out of sight of an approach¬ 
ing fish, then he will fly out like an arrow, seize 
and chew his prey without at times the slightest 
intention of eating it. All these movements are 
performed in a similar way to those of a cat 
killing a mouse or bird and then leaving it, 
and I cannot help thinking that trout and other 
fish will sometimes kill things on the move 
they will not look at when still. We know fish 
have passions, because at certain periods they 
will fight like robins, probably for supremacy 
(take salmon, for instance), and this will ac¬ 
count to some extent for the cussedness alluded 
to. One sort of fish will chase another—-barbel, 
dace, etc.; sticklebacks (at times) fight like 
game-cocks, and lobsters play old Harry in 
their terrific battles. 
There may be just a little curiosity in the 
matter of a fish going for one kind of artificial 
fly in preference to another, for you must admit, 
Mr. Editor, the flavor of an artificial is very so- 
so; in fact, so very so-so that Master Salmon 
would very soon eject it. When I say very 
soon, I mean if the angler waited long enough 
for the creature to bring its organs of taste 
into play, because if fish have no taste one bait 
would be the same to them as another, and the 
preparation of baits by anglers so much waste 
of time. Either many anglers I know are great 
fools, or fish must have the sense of taste 
wonderfully developed, 
A fly composed of certain colors may irritate, 
annoy and make fish angry, like the sanguinary 
color undoubtedly does your bull, and they 
“go” for the cause of their annoyance similar 
to a dog snapping at a fly, or a man striking his 
head, cheek nose, or hand to rid himself of a 
nuisance. 
Depend upon it that fish are not the amiable 
creatures some authors would make out. S. 
Turner, in his “Sacred History,” published 
about 1830, says they are “gentle, harmless, 
social and peaceful animals.” This may be true 
to some extent, but there is a lot of deviltry in 
them, not forgetting craft, cunning, jealousy, 
greed, love of destruction (even their own 
species), and their well known habit of sulking. 
Supposing an angler were to catch, say, a 
perch with an artificial bait, in which the color 
red was predominant, and, on opening the fish, 
found it choked full of minnows, he would 
naturally come to the conclusion that the perch 
came at the bait either from pure cussedness 
or a burning desire to kill from sheer irritation, 
probably caused by having a disagreeable and 
exceedingly irritating color flaunted before his 
eyes operating on his nervous system to such 
an extent, literally forcing him to counterbal¬ 
ance or relieve him from the cause of his ex¬ 
treme annoyance and irritation by destroying it. 
If you admit that fish have passions, then may 
I ask, in the language of a well-known philos¬ 
opher: “What is it that feels the passion? Is 
it the body or the mind? Because if brutes 
(and henceforth fish) have no minds, how can 
they possibly feel these passions?”—Fishing 
Gazette. 
A FRIEND IN NEED. 
A DOG belonging to a Wanaqua (N. J.) lad 
had for a long time been in the habit of pick¬ 
ing up his breakfast and running away with it 
instead of eating it. The boy followed him on 
Friday and the dog led him a roundabout trip, 
evidently to tire out his pursuer. Finally the 
dog lay down and waited for the boy to go 
away. The boy started abruptly as if to go 
home. The dog then ran very fast and disap¬ 
peared in a covert, where investigation revealed 
a decrepit and emaciated old dog. who was 
eagerly devouring the breakfast.—Newark Call. 
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