LOCH -FISHING. 



SET-LINES AND TRIMMERS FOR PIKE 



179 



Although rod-fishing for pike affords undoubtedly the 

 best sport, and requires much greater skill, yet by far 

 the most deadly way is with set-lines. This is either 

 done with a long line, and from twelve to twenty hooks, 

 or with single hooks, fixed to a bottle or other equally 

 buoyant float, called a trimmer. I have also heard of 

 tying baited hooks to the legs of geese, and turning them 

 adrift : when a pike seizes the bait, the goose begins to 

 flap its wings, and there is often considerable sport in 

 the struggle ; but it is certainly a most cruel diversion, 

 especially if a large pike is hooked. The humane man 

 will be more amused with the trimmer, which I have 

 often practised with great success. 



After very tightly corking up the bottles, and fast- 

 ening the cord to them, let from two to eight feet 

 hang down, according to the depth of the water ; fix a 

 large double pike-hook, armed upon brass wire, and 

 baited with a small perch, trout, roach, or frog to each : 

 be sure to cut off the perch's dorsal fin and lower part 

 of the gills. The baits are inverted, the barbs of the 

 hook projecting from their mouths. The best time for 

 this amusement is on one of those delicious evenings 

 with scarcely a breath of air, when the shadow of the 

 mountain becomes more imposing on the unrippled loch, 

 and twilight begins to steal over the scene. Let the hum 

 of the beetle be your warning bell. 



