226 MALACOPTERYGII.—ESOCID^. 



Pike, combined with the goodness of his flesh, 

 make his capture a favourite object of ambition 

 with anglers. He is chiefly taken with trolling 

 and spinning-tackle, which we have already briefly 

 described. A contrivance called the Hgger, pecu- 

 liar to the great meres, or marshy lakes of Nor- 

 folk, is said to afford great diversion, and is thus 

 described by Mr. Yarrell : — " The ligger or trim- 

 mer is a long cylindrical float, made of wood or 

 cork, or rushes tied together at each end : to the 

 middle of this float a string is fixed, in length 

 from eight to fifteen feet ; this string is wound 

 round the float except two or three feet, when 

 the trimmer is to be put into the water, and 

 slightly fixed by a notch in the wood or cork, or 

 by putting it between the ends of the rushes. 

 The bait is fixed on the hook, and the hook 

 fastened to the end of the pendent string, and the 

 whole then dropped into the water. By this ar- 

 rangement the bait floats at any required depth, 

 which should have some reference to the tem- 

 perature of the season ; Pike swimming near the 

 surface in fine warm weather, and deeper when it 

 is colder, but generally keeping near their peculiar 

 haunts. When the bait is seized by a Pike, the 

 jerk looses the fastening, and the whole string 

 unwinds; the wood, cork, or rushes, floating at 

 the top, indicating what has occurred. Floats of 

 wood or cork are generally painted, in order to 

 render them more distinctly visible on the water 

 to the fishers who pursue their amusement and 

 the liggers in boats. Floats of rushes are pre- 

 ferred to others, as least calculated to excite sus- 

 picion in the fish."* 



* Brit. Fishes, i. 439. 



