WFO on lings Abkings ling almost beaten "pictures added"

WOW!!!!!!   That's THE day I've been waiting for all year... what an awesome adventure... really wishing I could have joined you guys.  Congratulations Joe... that's a beautiful fish and an excellent adventure to end this season with.  It'll be the first post I re-read before going after them again next year.

Gotta love it... EK

I wouldn't have a problem jumping off my yak and letting the surf take me in... if there was a nice sandy beach to land on. Nothing but rocks and reefs up there and the idea of letting the raging hand of the ocean slam my yak and my body into a boulder only to suck my out to sea and slam my again doesn't appeal to me. I know from experience from my abing with a float tube days... it's not fun.

Also, I'll be better prepared for next season... I think it's time to invest in a more reliable scale and a waterproof digital camera. I'm so looking forward to it. Where's Mooch when you need him???

Freddie

Yep.  The fish are all along our coasts.....just a matter of being the one to bring him in.
Seeing your beautiful vermillion, skyboy, prompts me to ask of the group again if any of you have heard about the ear bone of vermillions making good jewelry?
Great reports you guys.  Great reading from the warmth of my home after an awesome dinner......

Pat

Joe,

Is there going to be a new skull in the house?

Great picts and even better story.  Gotta love it when Fred writes a report.

Stuart

mr. savage, only rocks! whoa! 

Some photos of the launch/landing would be good!

what is this 'fish jig' the secret weapon of skyboy  ?

can it be revealed? Is it bait on a jig? or is it a big swimbait
on a jig?

-j

Where's Mooch when you need him???

would have loved to join you guys on the epic adventure.....but not in the condition I'm in right now    next time = definitely!

i am working on the ling head, I don't think boiling it was the way to go. I now need a ling skull reconstruct book. I will add it to the collection, but need to work on the technique.

oh, jmairey, the jig was a sardine megabait.

oh, jmairey, the jig was a sardine megabait.

     Don't let the secret out.

The sardine mega is the man.  Its all I use 99% of the time.  For what ever reason the 3.5 ounce unit is more effective than the other weights...no idea why! 

My idea on emergency landing in big surf
(nor cal surf, not that so cal "big" (ha) surf that sammons
teaches people to handle  ) is to get off the boat, turn the boat so
the bow points to sea, take ahold of the handle at the bow, then let the
waves drag you right to shore, timing when you get washed on shore,
then pull that baby out and up the beach.

your own body will act as a sea anchor as you head in,
keeping it straight as well as stopping it from cartwheeling
and the boat between you and shore. You need to take
some care to not put your face too close to the bow. the tricky
part would be turning the boat 180 degrees once it hits sand and pulling it
out without capsizing. I have done some emergency landing testing in lighter seas, seems to work.
obviously all gear would have to be stowed. If you let go, say good bye to fish
finders and other stuff mounted on the deck.

obviously this is for swimming capable guys, but you guys don't look like
wall flower type of guys.

I've done something along these lines before.  But I point the bow in and mount the stern like you were belly surfing a surfboard in.  I can see if you had a big ol' crate back there that this would be somewhat difficult and mounting the bow might be a better idea.

-Allen


-Allen

skyboy,

On the skull reconstruction, I have a few books that go over how to do that.  I had to do it once in ichthyology (fish biology) class.  It\'s not too hard, and I would have done it to my 23lb ling, but it stinks too for my wife to let me do it.

First of all, boiling the meat away is not the way to go.  You end up with a pile of bones without any idea where they went.  A far better method is to systematically remove the bones and label them as you go.   The following is from memory, when I get back to my office on Monday I\'ll see if I can\'t find more detailed instructions.

1.)  Remove as much flesh from the head (including the eyes) as you can with a scapel or other small sharp knife.  You should also be able to disarticulate the jaw and opercula (gill flaps).  Working on taking apart and rebuilding these chunks should make life easier for you. 

2.) Using a large pot of simmering water cook the remaining meat on the various bones.  The trick here is to cook it enough that the meat is easier to remove from the bone, but not so much as to have everything fall apart on you.  I find that holding the head under with BBQ tongs is the way to go here.

3.) Continue cleaning the bones, make sketches for your self so that you know where different bones go.  Ideally you\'ll end up with most of the major bones separated but some bones like the ones that make up the skull itself will still be intact.

4.) There are some tricks using harsh chemicals (trichloroethylene) if the bones seem greasy, but I don\'t remember the details  and I don\'t suspect lings to be that greasy.

5.) Once clean the bones can be bleached by spraying them with H202 (hydrogen peroxide) and letting the bones dry between applications.

6.) Let the bones dry for a few days.

7.) Start gluing everything back together.


I have a copy of an old book called \"Fish skulls: a study of the evolution of natural mechanisms.\" by Gregory, 1933.  It has a descent illustration of a lingcod skull as well as some generic fish skulls for reference.  When I get back to work next week I\'ll look into scanning those illustrations in and posting them for you.


Brian

Brian, I somehow knew you would respond that the reconstruct. I will look forward to getting those illustrations. For now I have cleaned all the bones and de-fleshed them, and have them soaking in H2O2. I will monitor them for the rest of the day, making sure not to over soak them. Thanks again. Joe

If you're soaking the bones in H2O2 (and you probably don't want to do that for too long), you can stop the action of the H202 when you take them out by using a weak amonia solution.

Don't forget to try and get the brain tissue out of the skull area if you haven't already.  If overlooked you'll be rewarded with rotten fish brain stench in a about a week or two.

I'll try and post those illustrations Monday.

Maybe I should write up on how to do one of these skull preps for a NCKA article.  Another good way to immortize your fish is by doing a gyotaku (japanese fish print), I could write an article on that too.

Brian

You have done fish prints,Brian?  We've paid good money for a rockfish one.  I would LOVE to make my own cabezon one.
Pat