Bluegill - Big Bluegill

Do you love big bluegill?

Howdy Y'all

 I've had a few fish, while scaling them lose their scales and skin down to the meat off their backs from the lateral line to the spine.

 Question: Anybody else have that problem and is it due to heat?

Yours in service

James and Kathy

Views: 736

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Your applying to much down pressure with too sharp a scaling device, no i'm just joking, I usually put all my fish on ice as soon as I catch them, they scale easer and taste fresher.
What gills I do keep I fillet, flipping the fillet 'skin-side' down, then I saw my knife back and forth from the tail to the head and remove the skin from the fish. Quicker, easier and less messy than scaling.
try using a spoon
I don't know if the heat might be causing this to happen. I do know that the older I get, the less I can take the heat, and the easier my hide scrapes off with the least of bumps it seems. Maybe the fish this happens to are just OLD!!!

Don't know how you scale 'em. For most of my life I've use a tablespoon and it worked pretty good. Then I joined this site and most everybody talked about fileting them. I tried that and liked it. My wife still insists on some small ones fried whole though so I still have to scale some. I bought a scaler tool at Bass Pro last year that is the best scale tool I have used. I was impressed with how well and quickly it worked. The big plus was scales really didn't fly all over the place. Here is a picture and a link to the Big Norm Fish Scaler.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_1...

p style="text-align: left;">

RSS

Latest Activity

Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Needless to say I’m ready for the warm up that begins tomorrow and culminates with highs in the 90s next week…"
20 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Cable to mention a few……complete compartment clean out, man you can acquire things even on your boat…..got 500 new Popeyes and shoo shiners"
20 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Took this weeks cold front period to get some maintenance done on my boat, serviced all fluids, new starter/solenoid and a trolling motor"
20 hours ago
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Forgot I Caught a Yellow Perch Yesterday As Well…..4/4/2026

In shallow heavy cover…..all spawned out already, first spawner of the year in North Carolina
Sunday
John Sheehan commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

White /Pink Marabou untipped

"The first color Jig I was catching Crappie out of Cupsaw lake on years ago. I recall your favoring…"
Sunday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

4 by 8

"Very nice seed…..very aggressive species……"
Sunday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on John Sheehan's photo
Thumbnail

White /Pink Marabou untipped

"Pink is a big winner in North Carolina brackish waters…..nice crappie "
Sunday
John Sheehan posted photos
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

The Big Dog We Saved Today on the River….4/4/2026

"The owner was in tears by the time we were able to reunite……remote area with a lot of…"
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Saturday
John Sheehan commented on Jeffrey D. Abney's photo
Thumbnail

The Big Dog We Saved Today on the River….4/4/2026

"Great adventure Jeffrey, glad you were there to help!"
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

The Big Dog We Saved Today on the River….4/4/2026

We were changing locations when we noticed something in the water, mind you we had saw beavers and…
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a status
"Busiest day on the water in 2026……saved a large dog from drowning, was able to locate the owner….deer swimming across the river ….68 fish.."
Saturday
Jeffrey D. Abney posted a photo

Chunky Predators

They’re eating well in this region…
Apr 2
Jeffrey D. Abney posted photos
Apr 2

© 2026   Created by Bluegill.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service