How to prepare a fish head and plaque

[Pikehunter13]

I caught a big pike the other day and I want to save the head and make a very nice plaque with her skull and a picture above it.

How do I bleach the skull and how should I keep the mouth open a bit?

Do I boil the pike head and then scrap all the skin and meat?

or do I get maggots to eat the flesh and meat? then bleach.

[WayneChristie]

if its a big pike its a female, mouth should stay open on its own :sHa_shakeshout:

[Pikehunter13]

she was roughly 20lbs.
I want to keep the head for the jaws and skull and mount it.
Bleached.

[BeeGuy]

This is a difficult task.

You cannot simply just "preserve" it any any manner.

A fish skull consists of many different bones which are held together with connective tissue and cartilage.

You need to boil the skull, disassemble it, clean the individual pieces, and then reassemble it using model glue or some other adhesive.

IF you do a good job it will look awesome.

If you are not adequately prepared, you will fail.

You will have to photograph the dis-assembly and label each piece in relation to which side of the head it belongs on (right or left) and which pieces it attaches to.

You can even do this as far back as the pectoral fins if you wish.

Take your time, document your progress and it will look awesome.

Here is a video to give you an idea what you are up against.

VIDEO (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JW5C7WtTUc)

[Pikehunter13]

Should I use maggots to eat the flesh and meat then use hydrogen peroxide?


And now, for something completely different. Over the past month I have been cleaning a skull from a gar that I caught at my great grandma’s house, and I thought that I would share the process here.

1. First, I cleaned the skull of any meat, scales, skin, etc. that I could. I was just after the easy bits, since the skull was full of delicate structures.

2. I Placed the skull in a jar large enough to fully encase it and poured in hydrogen peroxide to cover it. Then I put on the lid and sealed it tightly.

3. Next, I waited. Then I waited some more. Then I kept waiting. I left my skull in the jar for a full month before I opened it. From time to time, I would gently swirl it to dislodge the meat and skin.

4. Once the month was up, I took the whole jar, still sealed, out to a storm drain and poured out the liquid. It is pretty fowl, so I would not suggest doing this in your sink! When I pulled it out, the skull was pretty clean. What meat was left was soft and easily removed.

5. Since it had been soaking for so long, the thin skull had become quite pliable. So, to harden it for display, I positioned it with mouth agape and left it in the sun all day to dry. Once the ligaments had contracted and the bones stiffened, the skull was quite tough and held its shape well.

6. I cleaned the skull a few times with soap and water, allowing it to dry in the sun each time.

7. Then, I dipped it in shellac to protect it. The shellac seemed to make the skull yellowish, so a different sealant might be preferable.

8. Once the shellac dried, I was done. It still kind of smells, but only if you really get your nose up in it. This process would probably work with other fish, but I don’t know. If anyone else tries it, let me know how it works out.

http://blueegg.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/how-to-clean-a-fish-skull/

[BeeGuy]

Alternatively you can mount it like a shark jaw, but that is not nearly as cool

[Pikehunter13]

Alternatively you can mount it like a shark jaw, but that is not nearly as cool

Well I don't think I could dismember the head and put it back together.
LOL

I want to make something similar to a deer skull bleached with a plaque on the wall

[philintheblank]

I would boil the skull to loosen the skin and meat, I don't think there is much tissue on a pike head but getting the brain will be the hard part I am guessing, you can put a piece of wire on a cordless drill and poke it into the brain cavity and purée it then scoop it out with a q-tip ( that's what I do with bird skulls) then get some dawn dish soap and soak the skull in soapy water for a few days to degrease it, again not sure how long it will take but shouldn't be too long. Change the water after a couple days and if it gets cloudy again then it needs longer in the soap. Finally soak it in some peroxide and it should be nice and white. You can leave it in as long as you want but after about 2 days it won't get any whiter. Post picks when your done, never seen a pike euro mount before, should look pretty cool.

Oh and the jaw will fall off once the tissue is boiled away so you can use a couple drops of epoxy to keep the jaw at any spread you want.

[BeeGuy]

I got a big burb last year that I wanted to prepare the skull for.

I boiled it then started to deconstruct it and quickly found I was ill prepared.

Next time around it will work out.

The good thing about a pike is that the head is a fair bit bonier than most other AB fishes and the teeth will stay put.

The burbs teeth just sloughed off.

[Tussell]

if its a big pike its a female, mouth should stay open on its own :sha_shakeshout:

hahahahaha

[HunterDave]

Cut the head off and put a nail in the gill plate on either side and nail it to your shed. The mouth will open once you nail it on. It dries up after a summer in the sun and doesn't look half bad. I wish that I had pictures of my shed back in Ontario. :lol:

[keep6matt]

Bee Guy you always have the best advice, insight and tips,....hats off and kudos to you. Here is a suggestion as I am thinking off mucking with this too down the road. Check out page 61 of the catalog I placed a link on for AAA Supply House in Calgary. Its called MAGNESIUM CARBONATE and is used for bleaching skulls and mixed with Hydrogen Peroxide. There was another preservative I used to use on antlers however that was 25 years ago and can't remember the name. Hope this helps. Cool topic indeed.


http://www.aaasupplyhouse.com/catalog/aaacatalog.pdf

[TippyCanoe]

I've done what HunterDave suggests with lots of pike and it works well. I've also propped the mouth open wth a stick and it will dry in that position. Just make sure you nail it down so the neighborhood critters to take it away.

[jacenbeers]

There are a number of ways to clean a skull of excess tissue once you have removed most of the big stuff. These are 3 that are common:

Maceration: I have used this technique. You simply fill a large enough container with water and leave the head in it for a month or more. The bad bits will rot off and dissolve in the water and then you can dump it and do it again if the water gets too fowl. This is one of the best ways to do it because it doesn't damage the skull in any way. It is just kinda gross. In Winter if you do it, you keep the water warm by putting a fish tank heater in the water. I find this has the best results.

Beetles: Dermestid beetles are a great way to clean a skull. This is probably the best way to do it but it is a challenge in Calgary because you would want to do it outside to avoid stinking up your place. However, if it is Winter, your beetles will die. This is a great way to clean a skull.

Boiling: This works but you run the risk of damaging your skull. You can dissolve some small bones completely and you can also crack the teeth and skull.

[pike_king780]

if its a big pike its a female, mouth should stay open on its own :sHa_shakeshout:

lmao no doubt!! :bad_boys_20:

[huntsfurfish]

Awesome info guys!

But one little thing, please dont pour stuff down the storm drains!

(Its not just a load of carp:))

Storm drains arent ment for that.

[rafhone]

I really want to try this now, if my apathy dosen't get me. Thank you.

[WayneChristie]

Awesome info guys!

But one little thing, please dont pour stuff down the storm drains!

(Its not just a load of carp:))

Storm drains arent ment for that.

pour it on your pot plants, they love the stuff.

[huntsfurfish]

Lol

[rafhone]

... the days when a bottle of fish fertilizer was a constant under the sink and I only went OUT for coffee with mom.

[BPman]

I got a big burb last year that I wanted to prepare the skull for.

I boiled it then started to deconstruct it and quickly found I was ill prepared.

Next time around it will work out.

The good thing about a pike is that the head is a fair bit bonier than most other AB fishes and the teeth will stay put.

The burbs teeth just sloughed off.

Treating a burb skull like that will be really difficult because the are made of cartillage, not bone. Can't suggest an approach other than beetles and then drying it