My step-father asked me to carve him a trout. Mind you that was last year, but better late than never. I bought a trout from a fish supplier and I traced the outline onto paper. Then I used carbon paper to transfer the outline onto a block of basswood. I don't have a band-saw, but I used a Mike Shipley knife, an Allen Goodman knife, a Flexcut carving jack, a small gouge, a flat chizel, a large rasp and a coping saw to bring the wood down to the outline so far. I have been doing spot-checks with a try-square to see if there are any large bumps or slants that need to be corrected. In this picture you can see at the bottom that I'm not quite there yet. My wife has been very patient so far about the wood-chips that are still found around the sitting room the next morning after each bit of carving.
