Now he is ready to craft the horn into what ever takes his imagination. Often the handle will be shaped into the form of a bird, fish or animal. If he chooses to make a trout, for example, he will etch the fin and tail bones with a hot iron. A circular punch is used to form each individual scale. The eyes will be made from black buffalo horn.
Ink is used to color the body and is applied in two or more coats.
Finally the color will be sealed by coating the handle with varnish. To join the horn to the shank the stick dresser will use a steel bolt, a nail or a wooden piece of dowling. The stick will then be lovingly rubbed down with fine steel wool. He will then polish the stick and varnish the shank. To complete the entire process may take a skilled stick dresser as much as one hundred hours.