I recently took my annual pilgrimage for trophy smallmouth bass. This always takes place in May around Buffalo, NY, on Lake Erie. In general, a trip to Lake Erie will produce dozens of smallmouth bass in the 4- to 5-pound class with a few whoppers thrown in. This most recent trip was no exception since we returned with bass ranging from 4½ to 8 pounds. In my recent article about molding and casting fish heads (BREAKTHROUGH Issue # 83), you may recall that I don’t believe in freezing the fish, so they were brought back floating in a cooler of heavily iced water. Doing this will prevent flat spots or indentations. I know this method of field care isn’t always a possibility, so if a fish has been frozen, I will place it in a cooler of ice water. The ice water will rehydrate any shrinkage and the cold will firm up the epidermal tissue which is likely sagging from being frozen.

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