[header] How to can salmon [title] Scale the fish. [step] Wrap a towel around the salmon's tail and hold the fish in place by the tail. Run the back of a butter knife along the body of the fish, working from the tail toward the head. 
As you scrape the knife along the body, you'll remove the scales. When you finish the first side, turn the salmon over and repeat on the other side until you've scraped off all the scales.