Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 September 1883 — The Salmon and the Fly. [ARTICLE]

The Salmon and the Fly.

“Why does the salmon take a fly ?” is a question which anglers are asking ea<»h other in sporting newspapers; and, curiously enough, the answer that meets with most favor is, “because it takes it for a shrimp!” At first sight it seems as if the letter-writers were poking fun at the fish; for looking at the cases of salmon-flies in any tackle-maker’s shop it might be supposed that the noble creature mistook the gorgeous artificial insect for some rare delicacy just come from the tropics. But to imagine that the fish mistook this resplendent thing of feathers and tinsel for such a familiar object as the common gray shrimp would appear to argue a poor opinion of the salmon’s perceptions. But then it has to be remembered that that salmon always sees the shrimp from below, and this makes all the difference. Some one writes to the Field that one day, when on his back under water, he was surprised to see flashing overhead a number of brilliant golden sparks, which, when he looked at them from above, proved to be shrimps. It makes all the difference, in fact, whether you look at an object with the bright sun behind it, or whether you see it against a dull back-ground of sand. A glass bottle, fpr instance, floating down stream on a sunny day, may look from below like a blazing meteor. — St. James’ Gazette.