Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

DRESSING GAME AND FISH2B5on each side of the back fin. Remove the fin bycatching lower end between thumb and knife bladeand pulling smartly upward toward the head.Skin each side by seizing between thumb and knifethe flap of skin at nape and jerking outward anddownward; then the rest, by grasping skin as nearthe vent as possible and tearing quickly down tothe tail, bring away the anal fin. Remove thehead and the entrails will come with it. Troutand pickerel should be scraped free of slime.Large fish for frying are best steaked. RobertPinkerton gives the following directions:" Cut off the head, run the knife down either side of theoones of the back the entire length. Cut down to the backboneand continue along the ribs. This gives you two slabsof boneless meat and leaves the entrails in the skeleton.Lay the pieces, skin side down, on a paddle blade and runa sharp knife between the flesh and skin. You now haveJoneless, scaleless, skinless fish, which may be rolled inflour or cornmeal, fried in bacon grease, and eaten with aslittle difficulty as though it were moose steak."To skin a catfish or bullhead, do not scald it,for that makes the meat flabby and robs it of itsfresh flavor. Cut off the ends of the spines, slitthe skin behind and around the head, and thenfrom this point along the back to the tail, cuttingaround the back fin. Then peel the two cornersof the skin well down, sever the backbone, and,holding to the corners of the skin with one hand,pull the fish's body free from the skin with theother. A pair of pliers will be appreciated here.Or, cut through the skin clear around the necknear the gills. Stick a large table fork into thegills and pin the fish to a board by its backbone.Then catch the skin at neck between thumb andknife-blade, and .strip it off by a steady pull.To skin an eel: drive a fork through the backof his neck (if you have no fork, roll him in ashesor dust and use a swab in the left hand), slit theskin around his neck with a sharp knife, make a