# Drum style fish scaler



## Gillgitter (Nov 5, 2003)

I'm thinking about getting one. What are the pro's and con's and what the hell do you do with the gunk and scales when your done? I'm have a septic tank and can't imagine it would be good to just wash em down the sink.


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## Scout 2 (Dec 31, 2004)

I don't have the drum one but I dump the gunk around the flowers in the summer and in the winter I dump it out in the woods behind the house. I suppose you could also spread it on your yard. If you have trash pickup drain the water off and bag it for the trash. The guts I dump in the woods and keep watch for a coyote to wander by


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## marakey14 (Jan 6, 2014)

Gillgitter said:


> I'm thinking about getting one. What are the pro's and con's and what the hell do you do with the gunk and scales when your done? I'm have a septic tank and can't imagine it would be good to just wash em down the sink.


I have one I bought from Cabelas, works great, I dump the residue in the woods


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## RedM2 (Dec 19, 2007)

I have the Slick Skin Scaler. Works great. The only con is waiting 12 minutes or so for them to be scaled. Dump the scales and gunk in the woods, garden, catch basin, etc. Just not into the sink. They turn out an excellent product.


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## LTH (Nov 14, 2017)

https://www.franksgreatoutdoors.com...-wPAxHWeFNEdsYH_OD237UD7bL2apjkQaAsFyEALw_wcB

I've had mine for a few years now and love it. It will chew up the fins and heads but not harm the meat. Two different sizes to choose from. Little pricey but keeps the mess contained and it's very portable. As far as the scales, I toss them in the neighbors yard.....just joking, they either go in the garden or the woods.


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## woodie slayer (Feb 25, 2006)

bought mine at franks too 8-10 years ago . still use it for all my perch..i dump it in the woods or flower beds


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## Gillgitter (Nov 5, 2003)

The wife unit picked me up one Saturday. It says fish should be approximately the same size. What size window do you really have? Would I be able to put Perch say between 7.5 and 10 inches in together? Also can I mix Gills and Perch together? Thanks


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## Classic8Track (Jan 23, 2020)

LTH said:


> https://www.franksgreatoutdoors.com...-wPAxHWeFNEdsYH_OD237UD7bL2apjkQaAsFyEALw_wcB
> 
> I've had mine for a few years now and love it. It will chew up the fins and heads but not harm the meat. Two different sizes to choose from. Little pricey but keeps the mess contained and it's very portable. As far as the scales, I toss them in the neighbors yard.....just joking, they either go in the garden or the woods.



Ever use on Walleye, thinking about leaving skin on for grilling this year.


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## marakey14 (Jan 6, 2014)

Gillgitter said:


> The wife unit picked me up one Saturday. It says fish should be approximately the same size. What size window do you really have? Would I be able to put Perch say between 7.5 and 10 inches in together? Also can I mix Gills and Perch together? Thanks


I put all different size perch in together and they come out great, but I would do gills separately since they have different skin and scales


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## marakey14 (Jan 6, 2014)

Classic8Track said:


> Ever use on Walleye, thinking about leaving skin on for grilling this year.


I never tried walleye, not sure how that would work??


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## june bugger (Oct 28, 2015)

Gillgitter said:


> The wife unit picked me up one Saturday. It says fish should be approximately the same size. What size window do you really have? Would I be able to put Perch say between 7.5 and 10 inches in together? Also can I mix Gills and Perch together? Thanks


which one did she get you?


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## Gillgitter (Nov 5, 2003)

Hell, I don't remember lol. Drumm tumbler??? Does that sound right??


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## jimbo (Dec 29, 2007)

I don’t have one, but I’ve heard they ain’t worth a crap for a dozen gills. You almost need your full limit. Once again, it’s just what I heard.
I figure, by the time I get that out, full it with water, find my drill, tumble them, check and retumble, and then clean up, I can do it quicker with a bicco scaler.

Oops, you said drum, not bucket, but.......

Sent from my iPad using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## Matt V (Dec 8, 2004)

I have had a slick skin for alot of years, works great for gills or perch. I throw all sizes of perch in together without issue. If you throw a couple of perch in with a mess of gills, the perch won't get scaled. I dump the scales / water in the bushes.


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## Scout 2 (Dec 31, 2004)

jimbo said:


> I don’t have one, but I’ve heard they ain’t worth a crap for a dozen gills. You almost need your full limit. Once again, it’s just what I heard.
> I figure, by the time I get that out, full it with water, find my drill, tumble them, check and retumble, and then clean up, I can do it quicker with a bicco scaler.
> 
> Oops, you said drum, not bucket, but.......
> ...


I have a bucket scaler and it will do small amount of gills but you have to lower you speed or it will chew them up.Same as with a limit of gills. We used the drum scalers while in Canada and they worked good but like the others you have to check the fish because on the smaller ones it left scales around the head and fins. You could grid them up real good if you left them in to long. These unit ha variable speed and once you figured that out they worked OK. I am not sure if they would work for walleyes


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## june bugger (Oct 28, 2015)

I have quite a bit of experience with them the slick skin is the best $500 bucks now days the open country tumble drum $219.00 big difference. Don;t have either just my personal observation, they both work. The fishing cleaning station in canada where I stayed had 6 slick skins in it, my buddy has a slick skin, payed $300 of it when he bought it. If I was to buy one I would probably go with the open country tumble drum because of the price difference. I gave the ez bucket scaler to a friend it sucked.


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## seymore13 (Oct 16, 2015)

Gillgitter said:


> The wife unit picked me up one Saturday. It says fish should be approximately the same size. What size window do you really have? Would I be able to put Perch say between 7.5 and 10 inches in together? Also can I mix Gills and Perch together? Thanks


I love mine. I try to keep them close in size, 7.5-10 should be ok, I usually save the big ones for a separate run. With perch I'll put in about 12-15 fish at a time and run the tumbler for about 13 minutes. I've found that gets them pretty clean, but they still might have a few scales on the belly. Bluegill take much less time and I definitely wouldn't run them with perch. Each species reacts differently. 

One thing I can't stress enough, when you start the tumbler, DO NOT LEAVE THE AREA!!! If you forget about a load of fish and let it run too long, it will make soup out of them. You'll see what I mean once you start using it. It tears up their faces and fins while its working the scales off. Once the scales are gone, it will just keep eating. 

It's a great tool and once you get a system down, saves a ton of time. I'll usually run the first batch while setting up the table, and then its just a matter of feeding it another 10-15 fish while I clean the previous batch and drink beer.


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## Howard Baumann (Aug 4, 2015)

seymore13 said:


> I love mine. I try to keep them close in size, 7.5-10 should be ok, I usually save the big ones for a separate run. With perch I'll put in about 12-15 fish at a time and run the tumbler for about 13 minutes. I've found that gets them pretty clean, but they still might have a few scales on the belly. Bluegill take much less time and I definitely wouldn't run them with perch. Each species reacts differently.
> 
> One thing I can't stress enough, when you start the tumbler, DO NOT LEAVE THE AREA!!! If you forget about a load of fish and let it run too long, it will make soup out of them. You'll see what I mean once you start using it. It tears up their faces and fins while its working the scales off. Once the scales are gone, it will just keep eating.
> 
> It's a great tool and once you get a system down, saves a ton of time. I'll usually run the first batch while setting up the table, and then its just a matter of feeding it another 10-15 fish while I clean the previous batch and drink beer.


One other thing is don't put to much water in it.


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## seymore13 (Oct 16, 2015)

Howard Baumann said:


> One other thing is don't put to much water in it.


Yes, this too. I fill it to the line on the inside of the tub and usually change the water every second batch.


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## Gillgitter (Nov 5, 2003)

Thanks for the tips. Gonna give mine a go this weekend if the fish cooperate.


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