TRIMMERING. 139 



in their habits than most fish. The " liggerers," 

 knowing this, set their destructive engines over- 

 night, and in the early morning rowed out in their 

 boats to gather the slain. On Windermere 

 trimmers are largely used ; fishing parties go out on 

 the lake to angle for perch, and it is no uncommon 

 occurrence to catch over a hundred in two or three 

 hours, for in some parts of the lake perch congre- 

 gate in shoals, but are small, only averaging a few 

 ounces each. Before beginning " perching," the 

 boatman places a dozen trimmers, baited with 

 small perch (with their prickly back-fins cut off), in 

 a wide circle all round the boat. At the termina- 

 tion of the perch-fishing commences a pursuit of 

 trimmers (sometimes half of those set) that have 

 hooked a jack. The trimmers are flat discs of cork 

 or wood, painted red one side and white the other, 

 and grooved round the edge in which the line is 

 wound, with its end leaded and the bait on, which 

 swims four or five feet below the trimmer. 



These painted floaters are known as " man-o'- 

 war " trimmers, and are set in the lake, all with 

 the same colour uppermost ; but when a jack takes 

 the bait, they turn over and show a reversed colour, 

 and thus the sportsmen can tell which trimmer 

 has captured a fish. There is a lake or reservoir 

 not quite thirty-five miles N.W. of London, where 

 for years past trimmering has been rampant, and 

 many a fine pike has met with an ignominious 

 death. 



The following description, by J. J. Manley, 

 gives a good idea how the sport of trimmering is 

 pursued. 



" It was a grand piece of jack-water, as full of 

 fish as a cage is full of birds. A stock of bait were 



