How to Store a Fish for Taxidermy
- 1). Clean all dirt and debris off the fish by running clean water over it.
- 2). Cut pieces of cardboard specifically for each fin, the tail and the gills. Spread the fins and tail out to their full size and cut the cardboard slightly larger than the spread fins and tail. You will need a piece of cardboard for each side of the fins, tail and gills.
- 3). Lay a piece of cardboard under a fin, spread the fin over the cardboard and then place the second piece of cardboard over the fin. Hold the pieces in place with your fingers and slide a bobby pin over the cardboard pieces, pinching them together with the fin in between. Small fins need to have two bobby pins, one set in each direction; larger fins will need three or four pins.
- 4). Spread the tail and set a piece of cardboard under and over the tail in the same way you did with the fins. Place a bobby pin every inch all around the tail to hold the cardboard in place.
- 5). Slide a piece of cardboard under the gill cover on the fish’s head and another over the gill cover. Hold the cardboard in place with three to six bobby pins, depending on the size of the gill. Repeat this procedure for the opposite gill cover.
- 6). Place the fish, with all the fins set in cardboard, into a plastic trash bag that is just bigger than the fish. Seal the bag and place the plastic-wrapped fish in a second, larger plastic trash bag and seal it. Place the bagged fish in a freezer, keeping the fish laid out straight. Do not place anything on top of it.
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