Looking to mount a fish.

[Klob]

After about 35 years of fishing I finally landed something worth mounting, 42 #er north of Bajo on Saturday. Has anyone had any experience finding the right guy, price etc. Saw a fiberglass replica at River Sports that was a work of art. Any help would be appreciated.


klob

 

[Reel Knotty]

Ahh I get you. From the thread title, I thought you got bored of sheep. LOL!! j/k.

I personally would ask around your local fish and game club. I know many hunters are members and might know of a good taxidermist.

 

[Mr. Dean]

IMO, don't settle for a replica. Go for the REAL DEAL! Hope you got it frozen whole and not opened up.

I'm dropping off one to my taxiguy tomorrow afternoon. Let me in on where you're from and I'll see if he's got any reccomendations.

 

[wolf]

Why whats arong with a replica??????if you get a replica less than a year a skin mount at least 3 to 5 as you have to wait for it to dry and if it isnt dried right it looks like crap after a few years as the oils comes through the paint.I personally have a replica as the guest cut up his fish and took it home so I took measurements and lots of pics. and it is one of the best ones people have seen.looks like the real thing down to the little scar on the side of its face .

It was done by Mike Moss but I know him well and had to hound him like crazy he is just too busy to do it and personally dont trust him anymore, I know gander bros in Van does alot dont know there work but you may want to look at there stuff.

Good luck Wolf

 

[Mr. Dean]

Wolf;

Not that there is anything wrong w/ a replica... It just isn't</u> the trophy that was caught. The Real Deal is just my preference.

One done up in the proper manner will last a lifetime. Finding a guy that can do it as so, is very important. I've heard of good things about Gander & son but don't have any personal relationships w/ him.

Mike Moss on the other hand is an excellent artist (seen lots of his work) but have learned from MANY people (reliable info IMO) that he's really slipped up on the business end of things (mounts gone 'missing', bills not being paid, court cases...). Never</u> would I send anything his way.

Another alternative is to have a mould made from the fish itself. This would be my 2nd choice - It would still be a facsimile of the trophy but would still be a true representation of it.


Klob;

Whatever you do, make certain that you have a guy that's willing to make sure that you're happy with the job. A 'bad' mount will show signs in as little as a year. If this were to happen, it should be an embarassment for the artist and be dealt with promptly and with no hassles. Get a list of references that go back 5 years (minimum) and follow up on them. Also ask for the one's that were 'goofed' ($hit happens...) and check to see how they were dealt with.

Again, I'll ask for references from my man and see what comes of it. I'd think that there would be some good guy's on the rock... If that is where you're from.

 

[finaddict]

Klob,,

I have two mounts done by the Gander Brothers. A 42 lb. chinook from Tofino from 1993 and a 14 lb.hatchery Steelhead from the Thompson from 1996 (the last year of large hatchery returns to the Thompson). Both are very good and still look great to this day. Eric Gander (the father) was responsible for both mounts but he passed away two or three years ago.

I was extremely happy with the Chinook mount and it only took 14 months to complete. I am less happy with the Steelhead mount, but that is another story. My only 'complaint' about the gander chinook mounts is that they tend to be very genericly painted and I can pick out a 'Gander' mount from other s quite easily.

I have also heard about a guy in Campbell River who does phenomenal Chinook mounts, but unfortunately I cannot remember his name.

I would suggest that you spend the time to talk to whomever you pick and make sure that they know exactly what you are looking for as far as mount position, colours and paint details. BTW for both of my Gander mounts they recovered the meat for me.

Cheers

 

[Captain Dudds]

i don't have any mounts but i've also heard the replica's are kind of the way to go - they will definatly last longer or forever, are cheaper, faster etc. and they look fantastic. but i get what you mean Dean about it not being the actual fish - its kind of cool to have the real thing hanging there. plus, if you are careful and quick to measure, you can catch and release and still mount with a couple quick pics and 2 or 3 measurements.

 

[Mr. Dean]

I had to post-pone my visit with the taximan until tomorrow morning. I hope that while I wait, I'd get in on the whole story</u> of how this monster Chinook, became yours to tell.

PIC'S WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!!!



Lets have it.

 

[finaddict]

Well Mr. Dean I know this won't really take the place of the recent story, but I can tell you about the 42 on my wall from 1993. We arrived in Tofino on the Saturday after a long day and night of travel. This was back when BC Ferries would offer the 1/2 price rate for a 1:00 a.m. sailing so we tried to take advantage of it. We finally got on at 4:00 a.m. and were more than a little bleary-eyed by the time we finally rolled into Mackenzie beach campground. We set up camp,launched the boat and were having dinner by about 5:30. Needless to say the excitement of being in Tofino again got the better of us and we ran into the wobbly pops until about 2:30 a.m..

After sleeping in to almost 6 we scrambled to get out to Wilf rocks and were definitely late when we finally got out there. It was typically foggy and we could not find the fleet but knew where the southern tip of the rocks were. We decided to get the lines in the water and then we would troll around the rocks heading north to where we suspected the fleet was.

Within 5 minutes, one line went off like a buzz saw and by the time we grabbed the rod and set the hooks (less than 5 seconds) he was gone. In the time that it took to reel in a pwer mooching set up from 15 pulls to check the bait, the second rod went off and I was able to grab this one and set the hooks into a good fish. Off he goes for an extended run and we were all pulled in and had no one around us to worry about. We fired up the motor and started the chase. By the time we were headed in the right direction, the fish had pulled off an honest 200 plus yards and was still going. He had not dove deep but chose to remain on or near the surface and just keep heading away from the boat.

All of a sudden the line went slack, and I was pretty sure he had decided to charge the boat. After what seemed like an eternity of frantically reeling in slack line and just when I had come to the conclusion that he had broken off, I began to feel the tension again and the fight was on once again.

After almost 40 minutes of tug-o-war (including a stint when he would circle the boat at 20 feet away and not come any closer) we were finally able to net this fish and drag him into the bottom of the boat. In a 14 foot Hourston Glascraft a 42 lber. looks like it could sink the boat. at 42" it almost spanned from gunwale to gunwale. At that point the trip was made , but we managed to get limits on springfs for all fishermen from 42 to 22 lbs. including a couple of double headers and two days of coho fishing that I will never forget.

Sorry I do not have any digitals 'cause they hadn't been invented yet

 

[Mr. Dean]

finaddict;

I doesn't seem to matter how many times I get to hear/read a tale such as yours... I NEVER get board of them. Thanks for sharing it!

You know,,, You could take a pic of the mount and post-r-up.

It could prove to be of value for Klob, in his quest of a Taxidermist.

 

[Klob]

Just spent an hour writing the story only to lose it trying to post a pic[V] try again manjana.........

 

[wolf]

Mr Dean it is not the original fish true but it has the same measurements and the same carestictics as when I first caught it as for a skin mount IT will be smaller than when you caught it as it shrinks HUGE so really a replica is more to what you really caught dont you think??? what you got to do is take lots of photos of the things you see scars,spots,different shades etc so the artist can duplicate YOUR fish as you know they fade,change color etc very quickly and skin mounts if not done right will look like crap with in a year thats a lot of money to shell out!!!!!! and takes a LONG time to get back.


Good luck Wolf

 

[Mr. Dean]

Wolfy;

The key words of your entire post is "... if not done right ..." If it IS done right, it should look as if it just came out of the water with no 'shrinkage' or ??? I envy the folk that can do this. It’s tough making something that’s dead breathe again. It’s something that would be impossible for me to do, with the little patience that I have.

Just so you know, skin mounts are painted and sealed the same as plastic ones. What the skin gives the artist is a perfect diagram of where each and every spot/mark is supposed to be and the exact definition of each and every scale - Impossible to get this kind of detail, of that particular fish, from a replica. To me, they just look 'too' perfect. Once again I’ll state that (for me) the next ‘closest’ thing would be, is using the fish and making a mould of it.

These mounts are a big PITA for the Taxidermist (hence the push for repro's of recent years IMO). But if you can find a guy that's got the talent, willing and up for the challenge (read: fairly substantial $$$), There is nothin’ sweeter. Again, just my opinion.

In no way am I trying to berate your fish. If you like it, fine; I'm certain that it looks excellent and would LOVE to see it (I like that kind of stuff)... In no way am I saying, "don't bother wasting your time on one of these if you can't afford the other."

In the end it comes down to what the individual wants and is willing to settle for (even the best of the best will come up short on something) and what's the budget - EVERYTHING boils down to how big the pile of cash on hand, is.


Good to through it back and forth again, Wolf. I’ve MISSED YOU! [:I]


Klob;

Shame on you for screwing up that post!

Tomorrow, post the story then go back and edit it with a pic. No need to have the same bad juju twice.

 

[Highliner]

So what's the cost of having a fish mounted or a replica done?

 

[finaddict]

quote:Originally posted by Highliner

So what's the cost of having a fish mounted or a replica done?

back in the old days (96) it was about $12.00 per inch of length of fish up to 32" and $14.00 per inch for &gt; than 32" in length (nose-fork)

 

[Mr. Dean]

I'm off to see the wizard. I'll post up the answers to all these questions, later on today.

 

[Mr. Dean]

Klob.

I spent the entire day w/ my taxidermist and shared a 'businessman's' lunch with he and his lady. We spent a good couple of hours discussing your fish.

According to him; go for the skin mount but get a replicated head made from a mould of yours OR a factory form that is 'close' to size, then fitted/sculptured to the dimensions of the original. Doing it this way, you'll still be able to get the 'depth' and accuracy of the body and a head that would be REAL tough to tell apart from the original (if done correctly), because it was made from having the real one to reference with, side by side).

Apparently (this may be what Wolf was getting at?), mounted original heads require more maintenance than what they are worth. They take a couple of years to prepare, and even a good one will need retouching in as little as 5 years later. Again the key to getting a faux head done is being able to have the original to work from.

I asked him about the replicated mounts... His reply wasn't very kind and I don't want to repeat it here (I'm still nursing my bruises!). Lets just say that he doesn't consider those to be categorized as a 'mounted' trophy.

Anyhow; to get a mount done up as described above shouldn’t take any more than one year to turn. Real working time is ~ 3 months but most shops either send them to a couple of specialized individuals or keep them around and do them as big game animals wind down (because of dust and hair issues for painting). An educated, ball figured estimate would be between 20 – 25 bucks/inch of fish (retail), depending on it’s size and how it's to be displayed (wall or pedistal).

When I asked about pricing on the repro’s… Lets just say that I’m holding a raw steak over my left eye and that I remember the word WallMart being said (these artist types can be very sensitive).


Where's the story??? [?]




Thanks for the beating. [B)]

BTW, it would be nice if we could converse other than on this thread. I have some other insights that I'd like to share with you, but not Joe Public... AND the e-mail function STILL isn't working!!!

 

[Klob]

OK Mr. Dean here goes: This was year 7 for buddy and I. We will call him Laddy. We have had some bad years at Nootka and some good, but this one was steller,from the 9th to the 12th for the weather gods were upon us with flat water on the outside. It was also the year we had swithced to "LUCKIES" We had heard people were stuggling on the inside so it was a no brainer to head out. The first afternoon we boated a 22#,18#,16#,2 nice hatchery hoes and 12# ling. The next day Laddy bagged his limit with 2 more nice springs, his deadly combo of a Confetti hoochie and short leader with green flasher was slaying, I had been dragging my standered cut plug but to no avail. Saturday was a nother fine day and I began to hit fish with a chovie and purple haze flasher at 60'. We managed to land a 24# after a near disaster net job that left the fish hanging on the outside of the net held on only by a hook, a quick gaff and its boated. Always have plan B. Now out of anchovies it was back to the last cutter. 10 minutes later the cut plug goes off. It was not till it took its first run of most of my 300 yards of 20# test did we realize how big this fish was. Laddie began to bring up my other rod when he hit what turned out to be a nice 18#er. After releasing the smaller fish Laddy was ready at the net. It was obvious he was a little nervous about having to net this thing after we got our first look at her. We began to giggle like a couple of school girls, until it decided to go under the boat. I knew we were getting close to having to land it before the hooks fell out so I told Laddy head first and he performed. When she hit the bottom of the boat I knew it had to over 40. My scale came in at 42#. We bled her over the side for an hour and headed back to Critter Cove a couple hours latter.The scale there read 39.75#. I callibrated my scale with theirs and it matched. It was a battle Laddy and I will never forget.But I'am still short of my late Dad,s record of 44#. May they both rest in peace.[8D] Pictures at 11:00 .........

 

[Mr. Dean]

Gotta have respect for something that's that low on the food-chain, having the power to make a grown man shake and rattle in his boots uncontrolably!

HELLO!
It's past midnight and still no pic's... You're really just pullin' my leg, aren't you.

 

[Klob]

Still Trying to figure out posting links, maybe My Escape can help out again. I do have video of the trip and will try to post later
Klob