408 EEL FISHING AND TRIMMERS. 



moreland, by trimmers, baited with small trout or perch — 

 there called bass — with the back fin cut off. On Derwent- 

 water — Keswick Lake — it is a common practice for parties to 

 engage a fisherman, who provides twenty or thirty trimmers ; 

 the tops being painted bright red and white, that they may be 

 seen at a distance. The party should be in the boat by four 

 o'clock, A.M., at the latest; the fisherman then baits the trim- 

 mers with live bass, small trout, or minnows, and places them 

 at equal distances across the lake, spreading to the extent of 

 from half to three-quarters of a mile ; and if there are two or 

 three boats belonging to the party, and the Pike and Eels are 

 on the feed, the great diversion is to see the trimmers carried 

 off by fish, in different directions at the same time, when all 

 becomes animation and exertion in the different boats; all 

 rowing towards the trimmers, and eager to seize on their 

 prey ; and very large Pike and Eels are often caught in this 

 manner." 



