How Big to Mount?

[G-Daddy]

My son did a replica of a 12 lb brown my then 13 year old grandson cranked in a few years ago. If we had set arbitrary size limits he would not have this great looking specimen on the wall of his room.

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[Missdemeanor]

I have a 37#Buck, and a 40# Hen King mounted.... my personal mount numbers are #20 brown, 30# laker....if it happens, it happens. As long as they are decent markings like Paul said... the real trophy I've been drooling for is a 50+ inch Muskie. I've come pretty close, but she has to be a legit 50 to get the replica....

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[hard knox]

need more then just deer heads on the wall    

[whaler1]

My first coho in 1997Picture0916160059_1.jpg

Wow

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[whaler1]

It has to be a lifetime fish bigger than the weights below or a major prize winner (weight doesn't matter) to go on the wall of fame.

Chinook over 40lbs

Brown over 20lbs

Laker over 30lbs

Steelhead over 20lbs

How many of those are currently on the wall?

I thought the same thing in the 80's and so far I only have the brown.

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[whaler1]

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[whaler1]

The youth loc winners my kids caught are by far the coolest we have on the wall.

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[Silver Fox]

How many of those are currently on the wall?

I thought the same thing in the 80's and so far I only have the brown.

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Yup, those are some lofty #'s!!! I have the Rainbow at 22.12#. wish I took Paul's advise on a 8-9# bow we got about 2 weeks ago in 50 fow out front of the creek. I never seen so much beautiful color on a lake fish like this one. I still creme myself thinking about it!😅

Lake Ontario salmon fishing charters

[skipper19]

Why does there have to be a size limit?

In my 35 years of taxidermy I deal with this all the time. Like pap said its a matter of personal preference.

MY "personal preference" is to have a great representative of the species. More often than not the biggest isn't the prettiest or the nicest to look at.

Personal preference !

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X2 with Paul and Pap!

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Here's what's really crazy!

I already ate the mount, 3 years ago, I'm GOING to have done soon. Good pictures and data records and any fish can be closely duplicated by a skilled artist. So if it's got some form of beauty, it's got a story, take dozens of high quality pics, measurement and save the data. Do it later when you find the quality taxidermist to do it right!...haste makes waste. Shop quality not price! AND...I have not beat it's size, weight, and story to this date. 42 inches 29lbs 13oz, fresh lake salmon in colors and character not matched since.

Edited September 17, 2016 by skipper19

[tlombardozzi]

Last year fishing with buddy Matt French I landed a beautiful 13.5# hen Atlantic and we immediately agreed that the fish was worth getting mounted. Exactly a week later I was fishing with my good buddy Eric and landed an even better Atlantic, 14.5# male. I decided what the hell and got them mounted together. I do not regret the decision.

[Xxx]

I think those Atlantics are the nicest looking fish swimming in the trout family!!! Nice looking mount!!

[Tyee II]

I just brought a 2-1/2# Brown to Tom Wendel over here on Lake Michigan. Obviously not for it's size, but for the fact that it sealed a grand slam for our team, and won us boat of the year aboard team Time-Off in the SU Illinois club tournament series.

It's not always the size of the fish that matters if you have a great memory attached to the fish, and I can't wait to set that little Brown on the Mantle!

[youp50]

I do not have a salmon mount of any species.

 

I have a gorgeous L Superior red fin Laker, a very non-trophy size 9 lbs.  Beautiful fish, great day, and good company.

 

A 28 in walleye.  My Dad did the netting and he is notorious for knocking them off.  

 

A 27 in Steelhead, I was fishing in my last contest/tournament.  All I could think was "I gotta land this fish.  I need it to win"  

 

They all have a special reason to mount.  They are all short of my personal best.  Purely on size, I would mount a 25 pound Lake Superior King.  On the right day, I might do a 15 pounder.  

 

Atlantic? Hard to say.

[Fishmounter]

I have done over 7,500 fish in my 42 year career. That being said There is a "story" With almost every one of those fish.

"trophy" Can be only be defined by the experience! My personal best Steelhead was 21 1/2 lbs. The story?

A buddy and I were in Hamilton, Ontario picking up my new boat to guide on the Niagara. Coming over the Lewiston/Queenston bridge I say to him let dump thew boat in and try it out. He says "we aree only weraing Sneakers and hoodies and its 5 degrees, I say we just run down the river quick to test my bad azz new toy. So being the fisherman we are we throw a couple rods and a few quickfish in the boat and away we go. First mind numbing drift I hook up on my Giant!! That was 2001 and I feel the cold and see the fish in my minds eye! I relive that moment every time I look at my replica!

Just like you I have many personal stories that are awesome memories. Fish with amazing colors, fish on a certain fly I made up, or a particular tippet.

Life is made up of memories, memorializing those memories is what I do, it's my passion!

I had  my former high school B ball coach bring me a 12" LM bass. I said "there has to be a story" He said it was the last fish he caught with his dad before he passed away.

Kid's first fish kindling their fire and passion for our sport is what I love doing the most!

So a "trophy" is in the eye of the beholder!

BTW Heres that Steelie and the only Atlantic I ever caught.

[tonyb]

How many of those are currently on the wall?

I thought the same thing in the 80's and so far I only have the brown.

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What a slob of a Brown oh my! they are beautiful fish...love the stories too.

 

It's a tough list to crack, that's why they are fish of a lifetime goals. So far just 2 Kings on the wall of fame 33.76lbs and 36.72lbs both grand prize winners in the Great Ontario Salmon Derby.  The first one took almost 7 weeks to catch, with only 2 day left in the 2009 derby.  The bigger one, and still my official PB Chinook came just about an hour or so into the start of the derby in 2013!  Work done by Advanced Taxidermy...they look like they were taken from the net and hung on wall...incredible work.

I was close with a 29lb Lake trout a couple years ago. But no huge browns or bows over 15lbs ish

The chase continues! [emoji4]

Edited September 20, 2016 by tonyb

[Sk8man]

In all the years I have been fishing fresh or salt water I have never had one mounted but I do have a "regret"....when my son was about 7 yrs old we were ice fishing at the Inland Harbor Marina just off the Seneca River  and we were hammering the gills and sunnys right before dark. My son caught a gigantic sunfish that we couldn't get through the 8 1/2 inch hole and had to "fold" the fish to get it through. It truly looked like a full sized dinner plate and must have been at least 11-12 inches long.  At the time I never even thought of having it mounted and filleted it along with the 5 gal pail of other huge gills and sunnys. It only occurred to me years later that "by the inch" it would have been the one to do I have never seen another one that big despite many large ones caught and may have even been a state record for all I know.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Sk8man

[DJ 17]

Last year my twins,(1 boy, 1girl) both asked to go fishing for their 4th birthday. So I took them my dad out on Cayuga.  We caught a bunch of fish but they each landed a 7+ Lb rainbow. Sometimes I regret not mounting both of those fish because of the circumstances. I did however take a bunch of pics  and have one enlarged and printed on canvas in our home.  Only other one would be a big blue perch I caught 4-5 years ago.

[Low Baller]

Grandson's bow taken on a rapala. Waiting for pa fish commission to verify new jr state record. 10.3 lbs 31". He'll get it back in May.

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[ReelPower]

What a slob of a Brown oh my! they are beautiful fish...love the stories too.

 

It's a tough list to crack, that's why they are fish of a lifetime goals. So far just 2 Kings on the wall of fame 33.76lbs and 36.72lbs both grand prize winners in the Great Ontario Salmon Derby.  The first one took almost 7 weeks to catch, with only 2 day left in the 2009 derby.  The bigger one, and still my official PB Chinook came just about an hour or so into the start of the derby in 2013!  Work done by Advanced Taxidermy...they look like they were taken from the net and hung on wall...incredible work.

I was close with a 29lb Lake trout a couple years ago. But no huge browns or bows over 15lbs ish

The chase continues! [emoji4]

That laker looks giant in the live well! Scale might be off a bit. Great fish and I am not fond of lakers.

[Musselhead]

X2 document all you can.

Years ago I landed a coho 16+ lbs. It was late august and just starting to get a little bit of color to go with its hooked jaw. Big AND beautiful.

Figuring I was going to mount it, I didn't bother with pictures. We wrapped it and put it in the freezer.

A week later we left for Canada. While we were gone, a friend came to take fish for smoking. Needless to say, he took that fish as well. By the time he realized it was for mounting, it was too late.

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[Paul Czarnecki]

And THATS why we offer reproductions.

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[greenhornet73]

Wow Lowballer, so that was the rainbow your grandson caught on a Rapala?!  That is going to be a beautiful mount and a fish he will never forget.  I caught an 18" brookie when I was 10 with a bobber and a worm fishing under a fallen tree in Nine Mile Creek because I didn't have waders yet while my friend and his dad waded upstream without me.  They came back to find me with that fish on a stringer.  It sat in my freezer for years because my parents didn't want to have it mounted and I am still sad about it 'til this day without even a picture to show for it but what a great memory that was.

Edited September 21, 2016 by greenhornet73

[greenhornet73]

Wow Lowballer, so that was the rainbow your grandson caught on a Rapala?!  That is going to be a beautiful mount and a fish he will never forget.  I caught an 18" brookie when I was 10 with a bobber and a worm fishing under a fallen tree in Nine Mile Creek because I didn't have waders yet while my friend and his dad waded upstream without me.  They came back to find me with that fish on a stringer.  It sat in my freezer for years because my parents didn't want to have it mounted and I am still sad about it 'til this day without even a picture to show for it but what a great memory that was.

[DJ 17]

What does a replica mount cost $$ roughly?

[Fishmounter]

What does a replica mount cost $$ roughly?

Just like a skin mount it depends on the artist and their abilities.

You get what you pay for!

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Edited September 21, 2016 by Fishmounter