THE PIKK 253 



379 Ibs : on the 18th again at Horsea Mere, fo rty nine pike 213 

 Ibs: on the 19th at Heigham sounds, fifty eight pike 363 Ibs, 

 producing altogether in the four days 256 pike, weighing altoge- 

 ther 1135 Ibs. The trimmers, or as they are provincially termed 

 in Norfolk, " liggers," are usually made of cork, though in some 

 places, and generally in the Broads above alluded to, they are made 

 of a mere bundle of rushes tied together at each end in the form 

 of a small and slender yet tightly bound faggot, the line being 

 wound round it, except the stray line to which the bait is attached, 

 which is prevented from being run off by the live bait by being be- 

 tween the rushes, but not so tightly but that it may be detatched 

 by the pike when he lays hold of the bait, and which he unwinds 

 as he walks off with it ; nor is it a trifling check that will induce 

 him to relinquiah the treacherous prize he has thus seized upon. 

 Trimmers of this kind have been preferred in the Norfolk broads, 

 as being less calculated to excite the suspicion of the fish than 

 those made of cork, in which respect the former are certainly su- 

 perior ; the latter of which being usually painted very gaily, have a 

 very traplike appearance. These cork trimmers are constructed of 

 a sound piece of round flat cork about seven inches in diameter, 

 with a groove round the edge wide enough to receive a line of ten 

 or twelve yards in length ; a small wooden peg with one end slit 

 to admit and confine the line is fixed in the centre, and a small 

 double hook, 'attached to gimp is fixed to the line. Another kind 

 of trimmer is made of a flat piece of cork cut into an oblong or 

 wedge-like form, with notches at the sides and both extremities, 

 sufficiently deep to prevent the spare line from slipping out ; and 

 these, from their form, are the best adapted for making their way 

 through the weeds after the pike has run off the line. 



Either roach or dace, bleak, ruds, or gudgeons, or in fact almost 

 any small fish, including even perch and ruffes in spite of their 

 spines, may be employed as baits in this kind of fishing : those 

 that will live the longest on the hook being the best suited to the 

 purpose, as a dead bait possesses very few attractions, and is rare- 

 ly well taken. 



The best way of baiting is to insert the baiting needle just 

 behind the pectoral fin, keeping it just within the skin of the side, 

 bringing it out about midway between the back fin and the tail, 

 drawing the snead and the hook after it, so that the latter when 

 drawn home will be partially concealed by the pectoral fin. 



