We now come to the second division of our work. Having told our readers how to hatch fish, we will now tell them how to catch them. We do not propose to enter into a minute consideration of the subject, but shall confine ourselves to a few general directions. Greater detail would make this book too large, elaborate and expensive; but there are suggestions and advice which will be found of value to fishermen, who may then supplement this information by experience recorded in a more elaborate form in other works. There are many ways of taking different fish; some of them are good, some bad, and some indifferent. We shall only give the best, and mention those points which are often neglected, or not observed, and which are essential to what has come to be designated as "good luck." There is more skill than luck in fishing, as in most things; and the man who possesses the most skill will, in the long run, enjoy the most luck.

There are two peculiarities of all sorts of fish, which are frequently unnoticed; that they are largely attracted to their food by scent, and that they feed at night. In all muddy streams it is only by scent that they can discover their food, for their eyes are no more capable of piercing a turbid and discolored medium than ours. At such times which are the best for the purpose, as the flood, which causes the roiliness of the water, carries down worms, grubs, and other food, it is apparent that they must rely wholly upon the acuteness of their powers of smell. On such occasions it is wholly useless to use artificial baits of any kind that only appeal to the sight, and flies, trolling spoons, or artificial minnows, are out of place.

Then, again, when fish are scattered, and are to be attracted to a special spot, recourse must be had to similar means. It is a well known plan in striped bass fishing to use chopped menhaden to cause a "slick" or floating streak of oil that will be carried long distances by the tide or waves. The same thing is done with still fishing for blue-fish, and without this assistance but few of either of these varieties would be taken on the sea coast. The same idea may be utilized in other ways, and prove how fish may be allured to their destruction by their noses as well as their palates.

It is possible that strong smelling substances can be employed advantageously on baits. This has been maintained by many writers on angling. Assafoetida has been recommended among other things for the purpose, but we cannot say what its value is, having never tried it. The main point to be borne in mind is, that in endeavoring to catch fish as much attention must be paid to the scent as to the sight. They must be hungry indeed, or of the coarsest varieties, if they will take stale, rotten and offensive bait, and it is not to be supposed that because our noses are not available under water, theirs are not. The fresher the bait the better it is, as many a bass fisherman has found out in a blind sort of way with his shedder crab or his bony-fish, which are successful when firm and fresh, but are ignored when old and unpalatable. It is said that eels will eat putrid meat, but even this we deny, at least so far as to say that they will seek it when in good order much more ardently.

There are several blind fish in the State preserves, some of which have lived in confinement for years. They have to contend for their share of the daily food against their fellows who are in possession of all their faculties. Nevertheless they manage to get their full rations, and keep as fat as the fattest. The food is thrown in at intervals, and the fish being hungry, and knowing from habit what it is, dart at it without fear, making the water boil and foam. It would seem as though only the most active could obtain any, and in the struggle pieces of meat which are too large to be swallowed at once, are often torn from mouth to mouth. Amid this hurly-burly and confusion, the blind would seem to stand a poor chance; and yet against such odds they hold their own. Their powers of scent must be wonderfully developed, for it is on them alone they can rely. They do not go grubbing on the bottom for such pieces as may have escaped attention, and have sunk, but they dart into the crowd of ravenous creatures, and carry off their proportion in fair fight. Compared with man's helplessness when deprived of sight, their self reliance is incredible, and must be seen to be fully believed.

There are rivers and lakes which are always turbid, and in which all piscatory life would cease were dependence for food to be placed alone on sight. The Mississippi is an example, its waters are never clear, but carry an amount of sediment which must render vision at more than a short distance impossible. It is not suited to a great variety of fish, but such as dwell in it are fat, and often attain great size. In the rivers and waters of the Mammoth Cave, the fish are wholly eyeless, and yet they manage to obtain food without difficulty. Such instances and evidences prove conclusively that the sense of smell must be consulted in angling nearly as carefully as the sense of sight, and that stinking bait will not answer for a "lucky fisherman."

Another way of taking advantage of the sense of smell in fish is to fill a box perforated with small holes with bait and sink it at night or in roily water, so as to attract the fish. The best attainable food should be used, such as worms or what is even preferable, the spawn of other fish. The scent passes out through the holes and the game is drawn together and made more eager by the appetizing smell and the impossibility of getting at the food. The fisherman then offers them his bait with a hook and line included and they cannot refuse him, but are quickly deluded into his basket. This is somewhat of a poaching and unfair method of fishing, but it is successful.

But not only do fish possess in a high degree the sense of smell, but they are possessed of a smell of their own. We do not mean that "ancient and fish like smell" which comes to all fish equally, the bony fish and the salmon alike, when they have been left out of water for a length of time but a delicate and perceptible odor that clearly distinguishes one species from another so positively that a person who has studied it can tell them apart blindfold. A little investigation will satisfy any one with keen olfactory organs of this fact, and that each kind of fish gives out a peculiar characteristic perfume that can be recognized with a reasonable amount of practice. The odor of the smelt is plainly perceptible, it is supposed to have given the name to the fish, and is observed to differ in the two common varieties of smelt, being much stronger in one than in the other. This is by no means the only instance; some species are easily distinguishable, while with others more experience is required.