vbl. sb. dial. [Of obscure origin.] A method of catching eels. Sticherer, one who catches eels by this method. (See quot. 1885.)
1867. F. Francis, Angling, iii. (1880), 92. Stichering is yet another method of catching eels…. An unskilful sticherer will sometimes chop off his neighbour’s ear.
1885. Sat. Rev., 21 Nov., 673/1. ‘Stichering,’ a Hampshire method, is perhaps one of the most amusing…. The only apparatus used is an old sickle,… tied firmly on a light pole about 12 ft. long. The object of the sticherer is to thrust the sickle under the eel’s body, and, with a sudden hoist, to land him on the bank.
