More Freshwater

Scaling Fish

As I am sure anyone who has cleaned a fish before has found, when scaling is necessary it is a less than an enjoyable task. As a fisherman who targets trout with ultra light spinning gear I seldom run into this issue because the trout I catch are generally in the ball park of twelve inches and their scales are small enough that they come right off if I even remove them. After dusting off my bass gear tonight and fishing a local lake for bass and small pickerel, a yellow perch slammed my crank bait. It was a good sized fish for Connecticut and I decided to take it home. Needless to say I was reminded of how obnoxious scaling can be until I came up with an idea and a tip I would like to pass on. Using forty girt sandpaper or coarser one can remove scales in a flash they practically fall off! For anyone frustrated with scaling fish please try this it will save you a great deal of trouble... just preform this operation outdoors or your girlfriend/wife/mother will likely scale you.