The sun., 1919-05-18
is 1T TRUE TROUT ia
ARE COLOR BLIND?
Prominent and Successful
Fisherman Advances Theory
at Anglers Club.
TEST BY EXPERTS URGED
Says Shape, Size, Construction
and Manner of Presenta--
ton Count Most.
TEST BY EXPERTS URGED
by CARDIGAN,

At the April dinner Of the Anglers
Club. held at the New York Athletic
Club. a very prominent and successful
angler advanced the theory that trout
are color blind = 49,,
In his opinion, the color Of the fly used
made no difference whatever. The re-A
suit, he believed, depended wholly upon
the shape OF the fly, the size OF the ny.
the construction Of the fly and the mana.
ner In which 1t was presented to the Hsh.
He also said that II the angler had suf-'
hcient faith in the fly he was using, ons
pattern would be as successful as afiA
other, regardless OF the color. the condf-
tons as above mentioned being equal. "a
This faith" argument II very efu-
sive and difficult to prove one way or
another. Tho point to be considered seri-.
ously. however. Is whether or not color
in a fly has any effect on the trout. - =
Test OF Infinite Benent.
Most of US, I dare say. differ with
this gentleman on this point II there is
any truth In what he says then marry
anglers for years have been following
the wrong scent. 1t would be of M
finite benefit to all of the trout anglirtr
profession to have this matter thor
oughly thrashed out and to have. 10
proven as nearly as possible one way
or the other -"ry~
I would like to suggest that some OF
the skilful dry fly anglers, such as
"Tamarack" and "Virginius," make IN
exhaustive test of this radical theory
and report the results In the Rod and
Gun column. ma FIG
This could only be done. to thoroughly
answer the gentlemans arguments, in
one way. by taking. for instance, ono
dozen size IL Whirllng Duns. all to -ie'
as near alike as flies can be tied, and
having three of them dyed bright red,
three bright green and three bright Blue,
leaving the other three In the dun color;Y
How to Test Out idea.
Then on day when the trout are ris-
ing freely to q dry dun, use the red
whiriing duns for half an hour, The
blues for half an hour and the green's
Tor half an hour presenting them N
the same manner and in the same pools
IN which the trout are taking the nat
ural color duns.
The result of several careful tests of
this kind would come very near proving
the case and would answer every arRl-
nent OF difference in size, IN shape and
IN time and manner OF presentation used
by the above mentioned prominent
angler.
Ahe personal experience of almost
every angler makes the theory that
trout are color blind seem ridiculous. at
nrst thought, but to have a very practi-
cal, experienced and successful dry fly
fisherman openly declare It to be SO
makes the subject worthy OF a great
deal OF study and investigation.
of course II the test did not turn out
10 the liking OF the gentleman that pro-
posed the theory he would use the un-
ansWerable argument that the angler
ala not have sufficient faith in the red.
green or blue flies. but haven't we ali
taken trout on flies in which we had no
faith at all, but merely tried them out
Tor fun or because our favorites were
not working properly?
Try 1t out, "Virginius" and .sTam-
arack," and tell us what happens Who
knows. perhaps the red. blue and green
whirling duns II presented as suggested
would be Just as successful as the real
duna
Jersey Pickerel Opening May 20.
Inc pike and pickerel season in New