01-12-2007, 04:52 PM
My cousin recently caught a 27+ incher out of the Berry and he decided to have it mounted.
We carefully placed it in the cooler, packed in snow, and on the way home called my taxidermist (Yuri) and found out that he doesn't do fish!
So we stopped at Sportsmans Warehouse in SLC to ask them if they knew of a Fish-idermist. They gave us a few names, and also showed us (on the wall) the difference between real skin mounts and replicas. Bottom line is that the replicas look better and last longer than skin mounts, and are the same price.
The taxidermist he ended up going with was one that his brother (my other cousin) found, and here is his method from what I've been told (secondhand).
His instructions for preparing a fish for mounting: (fortunately, we had already done the first steps correctly)
1. At the lake, take LOTS of pictures from all angles and get as much detail as possible as the natural colors of the fish will fade and change as the fish dies, etc. also, take many measurements. We took length and girth measurements.
2. DO NOT GUT the fish.
3. Be as careful as possible in packing the fish for the trip home. Wrapped in a wet towell is good, or in our case, we packed it in snow ON TOP of everything else in the cooler so as to not get smashed, etc.
4. Once home rinse the fish off, straighten it out, put saran wrap tightly all over it, and freeze it on a towell.
5. He said that it can stay almost indefinitely that way until you are able to drop the fish off.
6. Once dropped off, THIS taxidermist, does a PLASTER CAST of the actual fish, makes a fiberglass plug out of it, uses the actual fins and tail, and then airbrush paints as per photos.
7. Cost? $9 to $14 per INCH depending on who you go with. This particular guy charges $13 per inch and has won awards in the western united states.
Anyway, thats just a rough idea of whats involved and cost based on my recent experience.
Randy
Edit: I forgot to add also: For those of you who want to have a fish mount reproduced based on a picture and measurements alone (allows you to release the fish unharmed) there are a number of internet sites that you can simply send in the picture and measurements and your VISA number, and you get a reproduction back in about 8 weeks. I was going to do this with my first Tiger Muskie that I caught as it was only 28" or so and had to be released. I do not have personal experience with this as I ended up not having it done (Blew up the picture instead), but I looked into it and also starts at about $11.00 per inch. The reason I did not do it was because it is based on a generic mold of that species of fish and I wanted something a little closer to the real fish that I caught. Google FISH MOUNTS and a number of sites come up.
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We carefully placed it in the cooler, packed in snow, and on the way home called my taxidermist (Yuri) and found out that he doesn't do fish!
So we stopped at Sportsmans Warehouse in SLC to ask them if they knew of a Fish-idermist. They gave us a few names, and also showed us (on the wall) the difference between real skin mounts and replicas. Bottom line is that the replicas look better and last longer than skin mounts, and are the same price.
The taxidermist he ended up going with was one that his brother (my other cousin) found, and here is his method from what I've been told (secondhand).
His instructions for preparing a fish for mounting: (fortunately, we had already done the first steps correctly)
1. At the lake, take LOTS of pictures from all angles and get as much detail as possible as the natural colors of the fish will fade and change as the fish dies, etc. also, take many measurements. We took length and girth measurements.
2. DO NOT GUT the fish.
3. Be as careful as possible in packing the fish for the trip home. Wrapped in a wet towell is good, or in our case, we packed it in snow ON TOP of everything else in the cooler so as to not get smashed, etc.
4. Once home rinse the fish off, straighten it out, put saran wrap tightly all over it, and freeze it on a towell.
5. He said that it can stay almost indefinitely that way until you are able to drop the fish off.
6. Once dropped off, THIS taxidermist, does a PLASTER CAST of the actual fish, makes a fiberglass plug out of it, uses the actual fins and tail, and then airbrush paints as per photos.
7. Cost? $9 to $14 per INCH depending on who you go with. This particular guy charges $13 per inch and has won awards in the western united states.
Anyway, thats just a rough idea of whats involved and cost based on my recent experience.
Randy
Edit: I forgot to add also: For those of you who want to have a fish mount reproduced based on a picture and measurements alone (allows you to release the fish unharmed) there are a number of internet sites that you can simply send in the picture and measurements and your VISA number, and you get a reproduction back in about 8 weeks. I was going to do this with my first Tiger Muskie that I caught as it was only 28" or so and had to be released. I do not have personal experience with this as I ended up not having it done (Blew up the picture instead), but I looked into it and also starts at about $11.00 per inch. The reason I did not do it was because it is based on a generic mold of that species of fish and I wanted something a little closer to the real fish that I caught. Google FISH MOUNTS and a number of sites come up.
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I used to N.ot have E.nough T.ime O.ff to go fishing. Then I retired. Now I have less time than I had before. Sheesh.