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Post by peeps on May 15, 2008 20:11:44 GMT -5
I just was gifted a 14 inch perch that is freezer burnt to the point that their is not much weight left to it, I want to do the half cast method with this fish, I know that I can rehydrate and skin so that is not a problem, my question is, how do I go about getting an accurate cast off of this fish, his belly area is a little mishapen, do I cast as it and them make adjustments to the fish while the filler is still wet?? thankyou in advanced for your advice
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Post by jonny on May 15, 2008 20:17:27 GMT -5
I would try to rehydrate it first then air the fish up (air compressor low psi or caned air) till it looks i way you want then cast it .IMO
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Post by peeps on May 16, 2008 21:48:20 GMT -5
thankyou for the advice, although I did read somewhere that you should skin the fish during the rehydration period, a little at a time till you can get the carcass out, but I may just try rehydrating completely thanks again
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Post by cecil on May 19, 2008 6:25:41 GMT -5
Peeps,
First of all a dried out "freeze dried" fish can be mounted. It just takes longer to skin out.
Second of all I would soak it in ice water for a few hours before making your half cast.
Air works fine for pumping up the fish, but I use latex chaulking myself. I shove the tip of the caulking tube into the anal orifice and pump the caulking gun until I get the plumpness I want. I then quickly pull the tip out and plug with pieces of paper towel. You can also try and pump the fish up with caulking into the throat.
As far as skinning a dried up fish. As you elluded to, step one is to hydrate the outside of the fish in icewater. Step two is to make your back incision and open the fish up as much as you can. Place it back into the water and skin the fish as much as you can repeatedly soaking it until you can get the carcass out. As you expose the inside more and more the flesh will rehydrate and soften.
After you get the carcass out you will probably have to soak the skin again to get the flesh close to the skin hydrated enough to scrape. You may have to do that several times.
Believe it or not I had both a musky and a crappie that were left in freezer for years with not even a plastic bag over them and I was able to skin and mount them and they turned out outstanding.
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Post by peeps on May 19, 2008 21:10:46 GMT -5
thankyou both!! that is exactely what I wanted to know. So I just rehydrate in Plain Ice water, or should I add anything to it?? Cecil, I was always curious, on freezer burnt crappie, does it help lock the scales on?? or does it make the situation with scale loss worse?? thankyou for you reply, now I can make my game plan out with this fish, and get him mounted!!
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Post by cecil on May 22, 2008 13:33:29 GMT -5
thankyou both!! that is exactely what I wanted to know. So I just rehydrate in Plain Ice water, or should I add anything to it?? Cecil, I was always curious, on freezer burnt crappie, does it help lock the scales on?? or does it make the situation with scale loss worse?? thankyou for you reply, now I can make my game plan out with this fish, and get him mounted!! You could add some lysol cleaner to the icewater to kill bacterial but I rarely do. Yes a dried out fish will hold it's scales better but it's a trade off. Usually skinning and scraping is more difficult and this could lead to too much roughness with the skin and subsequent loosened scales.
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Post by peeps on May 23, 2008 22:29:05 GMT -5
I guess nothing in life is easy!! lol, thankyou for taking the time to answer my questions, I would consider myself somwhat a novice, I have about 10 fish under my belt, but because of resources like this, my work has come along way from what it used to be!! thankyou!!
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Post by cecil on May 24, 2008 9:20:09 GMT -5
I guess nothing in life is easy!! lol, thankyou for taking the time to answer my questions, I would consider myself somwhat a novice, I have about 10 fish under my belt, but because of resources like this, my work has come along way from what it used to be!! thankyou!! Your quite welcome! Please come back whenever you have questions or you have something to share with us as you gain more experience. It's so nice visting a site where you don't have to worry about being chewed out for just asking a question isn't it? I think you know what other site I am referring to. ;D One more tip: Sometimes on these dried out fish it's hard to get the fins to fan out fully even after soaking. If that is the case make relieve cuts in your fins lengthwise between each fin ray with a sharp scalpel. This will allow you to fan the fins out as much as you want when you card them. Don't worry about the gaps between the rays as your silkspan and fin coating will easily fill those in.
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Post by peeps on May 24, 2008 20:10:53 GMT -5
yup, I know what site you are talking about, lol, althought I am just a casual observer there, I acually signed up as a member here because I am a fan of yours, and was kinda bummed out when you left, you have the most imformative posts, and never brought up the orange button issue!!! lol, thanks for the tip on the tail, that will probably be good to know!! I caught 17 nice crappie that I am going to practice on, I have only done one to date, it turned out ok, as a matter of fact I think you critiqued it for me a couple years ago, ya said I need some yellow in the body, lol, thanks again!!
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