First drink nine bottles of beer. Keep the caps. If you forget you will have to drink another nine bottles. With nine screws and a piece of scrap wood, you can make a useful fish scaler. Detailed instructions follow! To use the scaler, and preferably before gutting, scrape the bottle cap side against the side of the fish sweeping from from tail to head. Scales will go everywhere as they seem to ping off, so either do this in the garden or on the beach. If you have a large bucket you can scale fish under water to keep flying scales under control. Keep rinsing the fish and feeling the body – when it feels smooth and there are no rough scales present, your fish is ready for gutting and filleting.

You will need:

  • 9 beer bottle caps
  • A piece of scrap wood (preferably a strong hardwood) approximately 25cm x 6cm x 1cmDIY Fish Scaler
  • 9 short screws no longer than the thickness of the wood
  • Drill, screwdriver, saw and sandpaper

 

Step 1:

Drill a clearance hole for the screws in the centre of each beer bottle cap

 

Step 2 (optional):

Cut the wood into a tasteful fish shape or comfortable handle, and sand smooth any rough edges.

 

 Step 3:

Screw the bottle caps to the wooden handle. Job done: cost – scrap bits; time – ten minutes to half an hour depending on how fancy the handle is!