THE JACK. 211 



have recourse to the rough-and-ready style known on the 

 Norfolk Broads as " liggering," or " trimming/' which, 

 though very inartistic, the float being a mere dry bunch 

 of weeds or rushes, has slain its tens of thousands of 

 fish, and helped to deplete these once happy (and yet it 

 is to be hoped, by the aid of modern legislation, to be again 

 happy) hunting-grounds of the angler. About fifty to 

 sixty trimmers in all were laid and left to the considera- 

 tion of the jack, who are certainly more nocturnal in their 

 habits than most fish. The morning was anxiously awaited, 

 and at last came. There can be no doubt about the fun 

 of searching for and taking up the trimmers, the expec- 

 tation, the anticipation, the chasing, hauling in, and 

 basketing of the fish. The bank and bough trimmers 

 were first visited and found to have done their duty well, 

 but the others required some finding. Some of the blad- 

 ders had evidently collapsed ; but on one was certainly a 

 good fish, for as the boat, with the keeper rowing in the 

 centre, neared it, the jack evidently felt alarmed and 

 dashed away, pulling the bladder under water from time 

 to time. Nearly twenty minutes were consumed in the 

 chase, and at last the bladder came into contact with a 

 floating branch, got pricked, and our hopes of a grand 

 fish were dissipated, like the bladder, into thin air. There 

 was a somewhat similar hunt after a claret-bottle, which 

 eventuated in the landing of a 12 lb. fish. Some of the 

 bottles and orthodox trimmers, however, had disappeared 

 altogether, doubtless drawn down into the weedy depths 

 by the jack when they had come to the end of their 

 tether. About ten could not be found ; on about ten 

 more there were no fish, the gimp of some having been 

 bitten through, or the bait of some rejected after it had 



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