Innovative Ideas Mans Club

[Green Hornet]

The mat looks a great idea. I'm grabbing one for sure.
Have you tried skinning on it too?
Also, would you have a link for where you got it from?

[yellow door 1]

Originally Posted by Green Hornet

The mat looks a great idea. I'm grabbing one for sure.
Have you tried skinning on it too?
Also, would you have a link for where you got it from?

Yeah I tried skinning that carp on it - its doable but I still prefer a completely flat table surface for that.

(which is annoying because it reminds you how slippery fish can be when they arent on the mat) - but a couple of those metal clamps would make skinning a delight.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Home-Mas...fduruY0UV-hXyg

heres the stainless steel clamp link aswell

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stainles...frcectupt=true

[yellow door 1]

If I could only buy one option, I reckon those spring loaded metal clamps might offer the most benefit over all. (if you take skinning into account) But the mat is portable and can be taken to different tables

But I spose you can also just buy or make a clamp board for skinning. So theres a few options to consider

https://www.ebay.com.au/i/3115791779...xoClCoQAvD_BwE

[Green Hornet]

Thanks for the info and the link. I did see a mat at Bunnings, but yours looks better.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/matpro-4...ormat_p4494299

Skinning isn't such an issue for me. I fillet down to the tail, but leave the tiniest piece of the fillet attached to the fish frame. Then you can just flop the fillet over and skin, using the frame as a holding point.

[yellow door 1]

Yeah I'm sure that mat would work.

I may have got a bit excited after my first use and there may be better mats out there.

I've seen flatter - purpose built ones for fish - that look like they would be easier to skin on

The reason I pulled the trigger on mine, is I asked the question on face book and only one bloke replied. So I just bought that one.

But there is some genius in the raised holes in the mat I got - all the slime pools down into those holes - and on a carp - theres tonnes of slime, that keeps coming, no matter how much you spray it off. Snapper produce far less slime arent as slippery

On a flatter mat with no holes - I imagine that slime would just form a layer for the fish to skate around on.

Re the clamps - I have very fond memories of my clamp board when we used to fish for whiting heaps - having a constant - like the fish staying still, is a huge bonus when cleaning large numbers of fish.

Obviously all these little things arent 100% necessary - I survived 40 odd years without a rubber mat and probably could have kept on going with out one But the extra control may help with a better end product, thats easier to achieve - it did in my case.

My mate, who's worked on Pro boats, just uses a wet towel

[yellow door 1]

The commercial purpose built mats seem to have this nodule system which may offer better grip and easier skinning - but I'm not sure

https://www.filletaway.com/store/p1/store.html#/

[Green Hornet]

The thing I don't like about the Bunnings mat is it appears to have knife catching, raised edges, where your one doesn't.
I also looked at those purpose made mats, but nobody seems to stock them in Aust. from what I could see and postage from the US is a killer.

[yellow door 1]

Heres the close up of mine