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Merry Christmas everybody!
I am late on this as it is Christmas day, but its been a busy fall preparing for the arrival of the blessing that our family received yesterday As i sit in the hospital waiting to take the lil guy home, i’m motivated to get going on this……
I bought my 11 yr old daughter a mission hammer bow for Christmas. To get a “big” gift for our 8 year old daughter, i had planned to get a fish she caught a couple years ago mounted. She caught a 20” brook trout in a stocked lake, but it had to be a holdover as they dont stock them much bigger than 12” in there. She fought the fish all by her lonesome, for several minutes and a crowd of all the old guys that fish the lake on the regular gathered around and cheered her on. They all couldnt believe it, there was lots of talk and my daughter often speaks of her fishing prowess and keeps the story alive and well any chance she gets…;^) She must get that from her mom cuz i would never talk smack to others when i have a leg up in a situation….
Its wrapped up toght and in the freezer but at this point, im sure a skin mount is out of the question but the taxi that im going to said there is an outside chance we could go that route vs a reproduction.
I have always viewed fish mounts kind of like turkey mounts in that they almost always look very fake. I do have two turkey mounts tho that i love and to make them look real(to me anyways), i worked with the taxi in the beginning to get a different than normal posture to achieve that less stiff and more realistic look.
My question is….anybody out there have any unique ideas for a more realistic looking trout mount? I realize there is less that u can do with a fish to achieve that but if there is one put there, somebody here has a picture of it.
The Bowsite community’s range of things outdoors is amazing and the responses for even the most random of things asked about here yields results. So i ask, what says ye all of yous???….
Thanks in advance for any help!
Try again…
Also i should add that i think a wall mount type deal is probably the way we would go
It’s about your only option that I’m aware of.
That pic is awesome!!!!!!! I love it!
Great fish, great picture!
Reproductions cost significantly less - Give LAX Reproductions a call - see link.
Ive seen their work and its good
Their taxidermist out there that can do a copy of the measurements on wood and paint to match. I was told most would rather do it that way. Less problems with skin and oil when painting. The more photos you have the better. Length and girth measurements.
Congrats to the young lady. FWIW....I dropped off this big laker to the taxi and he froze it in a plastic bag until he could get to it. It is greener than it was live but I thought it came out good for a freezer frozen fish.
I didn't even know brookies could get that big! Wow,, congrats to the young lady and merry Christmas!
Beautiful brook trout! I had a replica made of a lake trout and had it mounted on drift wood and rocks.
Great picture and a huge Brookie! I’d do the reproduction.
Nice fish ,Here is Trout I had mounted from a northern WI stream 40 yrs ago The mount has held up well
A good fish replica taxidermist will give you a real to life mount that will last forever. Skin mounts should be a thing of the past from a quality perspective alone. Not an issue with a stocked trout, bit on other species the conservation advantage is huge as well. Congrats to her on a beautiful fish!
I'm retired but when I did do skin mounts I had several fish that came back after 2 yrs or more in the freezer. Have your Taxidermist check it out and decide.
Agree with Jl,Ridge Runner, and RD. Real skin mounts must be painted back regardless of length of time frozen as they lose color right away. I have mounted dozens of skin mounted trout and feel like as perfect as a replica might be there is nothing like the real fish. Since it cannot be returned to the water at this point why not use the real skin.. Just my opinion for what it is worth.
Thanks everybody. The main question i guess, was is there any “different” looks as far as the actual fish mount that make it look more interesting vs just a slight bowed, mouth open fish. It seems after some research and by answers provided here there isnt much past just getting an up close “real look” and a skillful paint job.
Some of those reprods of smallies n walleyes are unbelievably amazing. Crazy how real the skin patterns look
That is one wicked Brook Trout. IMO you need to find a taxidermist that uses freeze drying technology for fish mounts and uses the real head of the fish.
I would use a national or world champion fish taxi. If they are booked up, then definitely use a master fish taxi. Especially one that specializes in fish. I’ve seen some outstanding work during my days competing.
Freeze drying doesn’t always work well in fish. If they are fattier fish like trout are then I would stay away from that. It requires a lot of fleshing so might as well do a skin mount. If it was my fish, I would do a reproduction all the way and probably as a pedestal to place on a shelf. It will painted and finished on all sides instead of just the front only.
As to something different ....unless you want to pay premium for the mount I don't see that happening. It would require either a custom carved body and skin mount or custom mold of the fish that's then cast and perfected to finish off (painted). I quit doing skin mounts 25 years ago after seeing the results of people's mounts on their walls. Mostly grease bleed. Not to mention the shrunken fins and heads which were mounted conventionally. Freeze drying would not be my choice either. Unless the head and the fins were replaced with good reproductions. The skin could be degreased ok and after mounting could be freeze dried. A full reproduction by a craftful and artistic taxidermist should look pretty lifelike but that's in the eyes of the beholder. Some are satisfied and others think it looks like a plastic fish. Here is the contact for one of the best out there, Rick Kramer Anglers Artistry 312 Chesterfield Road. Hinsdale, New Hampshire 03451
You can reach us in our office (603-336-7296) between 9:00 am – Noon EST on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Well do what you want, but I have a 3lb Brook Trout mounted using freeze drying , and after 30 years it looks as great as the same as the day I picked it up . I’ve seen this taxidermists work on other fish, lake trout, salmon, steelhead exciters, and he is far better than other area taxidermist when it comes to fish. Bottom line it boils down to the skill of the taxidermist.
Here's a couple of mine, both caught with my own hand-tied flies. Both real skin mounts. 27" Brown trout and 26" Rainbow trout.
Matt
Another excellent fish taxi besides Rick Kramer is Jeff Mourning in CO.
I have mounted lots of trout and salmon over the last 25+ years, If you have the "real" fish in good condition, that's the only way to go in my opinion, I cast the head of the customers fish and carve my own bodies and dry them in a frost free upright freezer so there fins don't shrink, they will last your lifetime and look great. Reproductions are nice and of course will last, but to me it's not "your" fish. Just my 2 cents.
Mine is prolly 15-17 years old now.....
Mine is prolly 15-17 years old now.....
Whatever you decide to do, they look really nice for years and years.
Good luck, Robb
^^^That looks like a wood carving.
Whichever route you go, I’d incorporate that pic below the mount somehow. Definitely a lasting memory for both dad and your daughter! Congrats!
Grey Ghost, "that's what I'm talking about" beautiful fish and work, Badbull
Not mine, but since the OP asked for something unique and out of the ordinary, see if your taxi can do something like this. As others have mentioned, whatever you decide, you need to go with a taxi that specializes in fish, and since the fish is already dead, go ahead with the skin mount.
20 lb 6oz rainbow caught trolling in Bethlehem Steel plant harbor off Burns ditch in the 80s. Same day my buddy Don Dubin caught 22 lb 4 oz line class world record. We were trying for a world record by trolling 50 These were Skamania subspecies. Don has a 27 lber mounted he talked a guy out of cleaning. Fish like this are no more. Change of forage and stocking ended it. We caught limits between 14 to 18 lbs back in the day. Caught a lot wading in the Root River on flies drift fishing light tackle. Never thought it would end. Guys from Kenosha and Racine probably remember. The gal is my secretary in my office. Thats what mounts are....memories. Wish I could go back.
IMHO, go for the reproduction and eat the fish. Great story and photo.
