ROD & CREEL 61 



CARE OF FISH 



If you want your fish to be at their best for the table, you 

 must take proper care of them, even if you are going home in a 

 short time. 



First of all kill your fish by a blow on the head, as soon as 

 possible, and wash off any blood, if there is any. Then if you 

 are going home the same day, let the fish drain off and pack it 

 in moss, rushes or ferns. On no account scrape off the slhne 

 until it is being prepared to be actually cooked as it helps to 

 keep it fresh. 



If you are not going home at once, it is better to clean the 

 fish as soon as possible. When you do remove the gills as well 

 as the inside and, above all things, scrape off carefully every 

 particle of the black substance lying along the backbone. Do 

 not wash the inside but wipe it carefully with a damp cloth or 

 damp moss or grass. The only washing you should do is to get 

 off the blood, after that use no water at all. 



If the weather is hot, a little salt sprinkled along the back- 

 bone and in where the gills w r ere, will be a big help, but the 

 main thing is to pack the fish carefully in damp moss and keep 

 them in a cool place. A good way to keep them cool is to sink 

 a can that will not leak in a stream, or else put them in a box 

 and bury them if you are not staying where they have a cool 

 cellar. 



If you have big fish which you must hang up (never do it if 

 you can help it) always hang them by the tails, as, if hung by 

 the head, you are likely to have the blood run into the tail and 

 discolour them. 



