HELP! Preserving a Swordbill?

[marlineer]

I need sugestions on preserving a nice swordfish bill My son caught this summer. I have heard quite a few suggestions, some real funny, but I want to do it right. Any help would be awesome. Thanks guy's.

[KAISER]

Pack it in Rock salt and store in the garage untill xmass. check it, and if still soft repack it with freash salt and check it St Patricks day.

I did a whole tuna head that way and it now hangs on my wall. My wife loves it,really!

[Talbot29]

I shellac'd the hell out of one after packing it in rock salt for a couple of months. It looks pretty good and never stunk.

I met a guy at Bud&Mary's this past winter that was selling painted sword bills. He said he left them in the canal for a while and soaked them in something else - not sure. My memory isn't as good as it once was. This guy was a professional and his product looked great - I bet you could find him on the web - he should give you some good direction.

Good luck!

Tim T.
Got Fish Too?
Judge 34 Express

[marlineer]

Yeah, My neighbor sunk His in a comm crab trap over the winter but I'm not sure how to treat it when I raise it up. The salt thing sounds good and I like the idea of knowing it is safe! Thank guy's.

[Jack Hexter]

I soaked mine in a commercial grade of Hydrogen Peroxide, not the stuff you get at the drug store for first aid purposes, but a much higher concentration that I got at a chemical supply. It ate all the grease at the head end. (Soaking the bill in salt water does essentially the same thing. Not sure about packing in salt.) I then filled the voids with Bondo, shaped, sanded and painted.

The painting was also special. I first painted it with gloss black. Then I put several inches of water in a large flat container that the bill would fit in while laying flat, not vertical. I sprayed metallic purple as well as the metallic black on the surface of the water and mixed the paint on the surface to make a marbled pattern. I then dipped the top of the bill into the surface of the marbled paint and as I removed it from the water, the paint attached to the bill. When it dried, I painted it with gloss clear coat.

I cut a piece of brass plate to fit on the base and epoxied it on the base. Made an oak plaque to mount it on and screwed it from the back of the plaque to hold it in place. It hangs vertical on my den wall with a picture of my son, myself and the fish above the plaque. I also have the hook that caught it with a loop of the leader in the hook, draped over the tip of the bill

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[tabasco]

I boiled mine in my turkey frying pot in a mix of water and bleach. got all the meat/grease out in about 2 hours. Then faired/filled hole with west system and painted. Had a friend make a cool wooden block with and mounted it in that. crappy cell phone pic doesn't do it justice. Its painted a very dark blue/purple close to what the swords look like when they come up...

[marlineer]

Thanks a ton guys. Thats what this site is all about, I really appreciate the help.

[Marlinhunter2]

I put one on top of a fire ant hill last year. They ate the meat and mucus off. Then I packed it in a burlap bag filled with solar (rock) salt for the winter. Looked pretty good afterwards. Going to have a friend carve the details on it.