12/24/04
Someone told me to leave the gill on the fish and just go ahead an mount the fish. I want to know if the gill will later on in years leak oil. I would like to know how to preserve them so they will stay new for my clients. The ones in the book don't look to real.
Have a nice Holiday!
Thank you!
Lisa
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There's really very little oil in a gill to begin with, but I always leave the gills on my warm water fish. For the cold water guys, I use artificial heads and the gills go with them.
For warm water, I use cardboard to separate them and hold them in place until dried. BUT that's for commercial work. The competition guys that I know, remove them completely and do other magic things to them. You'll have to wait for Gary Bruch, Frank Kotula, or Ken Bauman to help you on that aspect.
It really depends on the species. Need a little more detail
DaveT
Ok I'll give it a whirll on what I do if they want open gills. The best two methods are having them freeze dried or what I do is rebiuld them out.
They dry out so bad and look so sick when you leave them in and dry out normally. They never look like a real set of gills on a fish. Reference will tell you this.
Now cold water fish I never use real gills. I always have a closed gill on them but when I do I make my own by using any of the epoxies out there.
Hope this helps out. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays