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I am not going to keep upgrading wall mounts. As a matter of fact I've already beat the sizes of the mounts on my wall now. I just want a quality mount of each fish. A good memory, conversation piece and a little wow effect.
I'm sure I'll get a bigger walleye this fall. I always said my first double digit eye would go on the wall. That was my goal and an 11.5 lb eye is a quality fish.
As for the deer trophy comparison, I have plenty of racks. The beauty of that situation is you can enjoy every steak and still keep the rack for a great trophy. You can also have your fish meat too if you request it. I just offer it to my taxidermist.
I just can't get the "real thing" feeling from a replica.
I do plan on having a lodge and these personal peices will be a great addition to the decor. I think it'll look great, give a personal touch and offer the guests a little confiedence and respect for their host.
Just a point I would make, not trying to stir. If I owned my own lodge my livelihood would come from the waters it is on, if all my clients wanted to keep there trophies for skin mounts I would become nervous about the the fishery that now feeds my family. I would have skin mounts and some good replicas on my walls and would be preaching the advantage of the replica. Food for thought.
Thats a good point FFF. But as a lodge owner you have to be responisble. Lots of guides/outpost operaters explain clearly up front their guidlines as a contract for catch and release. If an area can't withstand a a fish to be removed, then that should be explained to the customers before you agree on offering your services/resources.
There is a way a replica can be done that looks real, but you have to kill the fish. Advanced taxidermy will take a mould of your actual dead fish, so the end result is not cartoonish. The detail on the skin is incredible, the outline of each scale can be seen, even the original lesions the fish had.
If you come up with a picture only, they will try to put your fish together with pre-moulded parts and might look a bit odd when completed.
I has the opportunity last week to see a 58'' muskie fresh from the taxidermist last week (it was caught -not by me- on the St. Lawrence last year). It was worth the $1,000 it cost.
Now that I'm older (ahem!) and have the $ to fund a mount, it would be replica, replica, replica. Hence, release, release release! Unless the fish was deep hooked and a live release was impossible, that's my way to go.
I'm waiting for one to fill the stats to make it all worth while. The live release of a trophy fish I caught is of the utmost satisfaction to me.
In my impoverished past I have taken several nice pic's of fish (as Hawg Wobbler suggests); some nicer ones are on the wall. A poor man's mount! Seriously, I get a lot of satisfaction from looking at these pic's.
W.
Thanks, Dad, for taking me fishing when I was a kid.
Well personally for me, I'm happy with photos, besides the Mrs isn't the "outdoorsy" type if you get my drift If the picture's taken right it can be just as effective.
But I certainly won't begrudge someone who wants a nice mount, unless they were to keep "upgrading" due to size as in the scenario CCB presents.
All that being said. And as I currently do not have one mounted, if I get a 15 pounder plus...Hmmmmmm
Hello Markus,have you ever looked at Advance taxirdermy or Artistic Angler for repro's?You can ask for a mat finish and coffe table design or other ways of display than just an ordinary wall hanger.
One thing you should consider is everyone is sharing info for your education on how to catch a muskie. Your gonna use this info to demise a fish which without help it might not happen,I dont understand this thinking.
Sorry for stirring the pot,but buddy the feeling of seing a giant swim off will make you understand the powers of mother nature and bewilderment of such a grande presence.
On the wall.......so you caught a big one
Your not alone
Markus its everyone's right but consider what you are receiving from others as education.
If you have the right then so does everyone.......................
And then their were none
Like the Hawg said,pics,lamination,yes there are very good natural repro guys out there.You have to specify what you want.
Take it from me,ensuring our futur generations the pleasure of what I experience is what matters,not howling I caught a big one.
The experience is much deeper than that.
Hi Marc, welcome to the board. Your opinion carries a lot of weight with me and I appreciate you taking the time to voice it.
You're not stirring the pot at all pal. All good points. I'm hoping to have the feeling of a big one swimming away a 100 times.
marc Thorpe wrote:
One thing you should consider is everyone is sharing info for your education on how to catch a muskie. Your gonna use this info to demise a fish which without help it might not happen,I dont understand this thinking.
I will no doubt be in a boat with a person that has willingly offered their time and knowledge to help me catch a muski. I've discussed this very issue with each of them and they are very aware that if I do hook into one that quallifies as a keeper...the decision is there's. I respect their help and them and would stand by their decision without question. On another note, I've been known to help and educate a few anglers as well, so I don't feel taking their information is a one way street.
Lets not get off topic here. My thread wasn't intended to be about whether the fish lives or dies. It's about the quality of the mount. I was hoping someone would have some before and after pics of replicas they've had done.
The replica will never be the same as the skin mount. The spots and bars won't look like yours on a replica. Even with 5 rolls of film, of the fish, the paint job will be off. The only way it will look like yours is being yours.
Now as for Paint fading, with the new paints being used in taxidermy today, there should be no difference between skin or replica.
The main thing to remember when selecting a Taxidermist to do your trophy is quality, not price. Go visit the person and look at their work, afterall you are about to hand him/her an irreplacable fish. Ask to see some before and after pics of fish they have done, Most will have them for show. Don't just look at 1 or 2 mounts, look at as many as he/she has. Ask for references, at least a half dozen would be good. Call these people, and ask if they would use this person if they caught a record fish.
Hi FishingFreak, I hope you are not under the impression that a skin mount is not painted. I have seen skin mounts of muskies that looked more like a walleye because of the paint. And the body proportions can be skewed on a skin mount as well. A terrible mount is the result of a poor taxidermist whether it's skin or replica.
As a matter of fact I've already beat the sizes of the mounts on my wall now. I just want a quality mount of each fish. A good memory, conversation piece and a little wow effect.
Comes to mind with respect to the replica.....
If the picture's taken right it can be just as effective. 
