skin mount of fish

larryb · 08-07-2006, 01:42 PM

a Friend caught 48lb king in canada and junta to have a skin mount made. who does a good job at a reasonable price. feel free to pm me thanks larry

Kerry · 08-07-2006, 05:51 PM

I could make a fiberglass reproduction for him. <PM or e-mail for more information>.

adobe wall · 08-07-2006, 06:03 PM

salmon aren't a very good candidate for a skin mount. They are loaded with oil and eventually they will dip/bleed oil through the paint.

Methods that successfully address the oil problem generally involve using an artificial head, and some taxidermists will also replace the fins/tail, which is a whole heckuva lot of trouble for a skin that still has oil in it (although at that point, the fish skin can be degreased fairly well). Trying to remove/replace the head and fins and successfully degrease a salmon skin without knocking off wholesale numbers of scales is darn tough.

High quality reproductions are the way to go with trout and salmon- in fact, the top of the line repros that are available now would have me recommending them for most fish. I'm not talking about the cheap garbage with 1/4" thick fins...but cast fish with thin, flexible, translucent fins and outstanding mouth detail.

Yeah, I know, it's not the "real" fish but in 40 years it will still look outstanding if you dust it occasionally. Skin mounted salmon rarely hold up that long unless you get a taxidermist that is absolutely competent.

Heck, even a bass can bleed grease...the usual spots to see this on a skin mount are at the bottom of the cheeks/gillplate, the belly, and the bases of the lower fins.

Go with a quality repro....

jmho, aw

troutski · 08-08-2006, 01:17 AM

I caught a 50# Chinook on the Umpqua and had a skin mount done, it looks great. Something about seeing the fish every day, better than a picture. All though you do lose the meat.
The guy's name is Brad Stallsworth, when I called him and told him what I had, he drove up from Grants Pass to retrive the fish. PM me if you need more info. Good luck

alaskan · 08-08-2006, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Go with a quality repro....

I'll second this. A repo will cost less and look just as good, even better 20 years from now.
I have 4 fish on my wall, and all look just like they did when I took them out of the water.