Hi,
I am fairly new to taxidermy but very new to fish. I recently took in a smallmouth bass (4#) and have skinned it out. I want to know, how do you get all of the 'meat' out of the head to do a skin-on mount? I had no problem getting the cheek meat out, nor did I have any problem with anything else, but now I need to clean out the 'head meat' and have no clue how to go about this. Please advise. Also, I skinned the fish last weekend and now have it frozen again in a wet towel, in a plastic bag. Was this a good idea or should I have done something else? Thanks for all of you help, and anything else you can assist me with when it comes to "fish" would be greatly appreciated.
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Fiskars makes a very good pair of garden shears, Matt Thompson sells them I think. Anyway, just keep cutting, go a little at a time. all that should be left is the skin from the outside and the inside of the mouth. Anything less and you are risking BUGGGGGGGSSSSSS.
The ball joint behind the nose has to come out also.
When getting into fish heads be ready to slow down considerably. The body skin under the gills is probobly the most sensitive. Do remember to clean thoroughly in the throat where blowouts are easily repaired in the rebuilding stage. And, after your cheek meat is removed ,do remember to rebuild with critter clay. Check your references so that over building is not a factor. Good Luck! Jeff F.
Give It a good hit with a chiesel & hammer to open up brain cavity
The wording of your post sounds to me like this is a customer's fish? If that is the case and you're "very new with fish", why on earth are you practicing on a customer's fish?
Try WASCO Wildlfe Supply,Breakthrough Instuction Manuals, Fish Taxidermy Manual,Tom Sexton's Fish Finishing System, It don't get muck better than these.Hope it Helps