226 MALACOPTERYGII. — ESOCID.E. 
Pike, combined with the goodness of his flesh, 
make his capture a favourite object of ambition 
with anglers. He is chiefly taken with trolling 
and spinning-tackle, w^hichwe have already briefly 
described. A contrivance called the ligger, pecu- 
liar to the great meresj or marshy lakes of Nor- 
folk, is said to afford great diversion, and is thus 
described by Mr. Yarrell : — The ligger or trim- 
mer is a long cylindrical float, made of wood or 
cork, or rushes tied together at each end : to the 
middle of this float a string is flxed, in length 
from eight to fifteen feet ; this string is wound 
round the float except tw^o or three feet, when 
the trimmer is to be put into the water, and 
slightly fixed by a notch in the wood or cork, or 
by putting it between the ends of the rushes. 
The bait is fixed on the hook, and the hook 
fastened to the end of the pendent string, and the 
whole then dropped into the water. By this ar- 
rangement the bait floats at any required depth, 
which should have some reference to the tem- 
perature of the season ; Pike swimming near the 
surface in fine warm weather, and deeper when it 
is colder, but generally keeping near their peculiar 
haunts. When the bait is seized by a Pike, the 
jerk looses the fastening, and the whole string 
unwinds ; the wood, cork, or rushes, floating at 
the top, indicating what has occurred. Floats of 
wood or cork are generally painted, in order to 
render them more distinctly visible on the water 
to the fishers who pursue their amusement and 
the liggers in boats. Floats of rushes are pre- 
ferred to others, as least calculated to excite sus- 
picion in the fish.”* 
^ Brit. Fishes, i. 439. 
