Fish Mounts and Taxidermy

So you've just come back from a successful fishing trip, and you'd like to mount the one that didn't get away? A fish taxidermist can help you mount your great catch. Fish mounts can be a good way to remember your fishing trip, and they can also make beautiful additions to your home if you get them done by a professional artist. Here are some tips for anglers with fish taxidermy needs.

Fish Taxidermy is Difficult

Fish taxidermy is a difficult job, more difficult than deer or other mammals. Fish loose their color completely when preserved, so the fish taxidermist needs to be skilled in the arts of both taxidermy and painting. Your fish taxidermist will paint the entire fish, making it look like it did when you caught it. Getting the natural colors right is difficult, and for this reason you should choose a skilled taxidermist with lots of experience.

Different Mounts

Depending on the type of fish you caught, your fish taxidermist will mount it in one of several ways. Here are the main ones:

• Warm water fish with prominent scales, like bass, are usually mounted using a skin mount. This means that the fish is skinned and its skin is mounted over a foam or plastic mannequin. Sometimes the fish's body cavity is filled with a material that hardens into the shape the taxidermist wants.
• Cold water fish with thinner skins and small scales are usually mounted over a foam or plastic mannequin. These fish are harder to mount because of their thin skins. Fish taxidermists often use artificial heads for mounting these types of fish.
• Saltwater fish are usually recreated from man made materials due to their size and difficulty of mounting. The taxidermist makes a mold of the fish and casts it in fiberglass. The fish is then painted in natural colors. Because there is no organic material involved, these fish mounts will last for a very long time.

Reproduction Fish Mounts

A new and popular option for anglers are fiberglass reproductions. These are perfect for catch and release fishermen, as well as for fish which are difficult (or expensive) to mount. Another advantage is their longevity, which is due to their artificial materials. Since a skilled taxidermist can make these look just like the real thing, nobody will ever know that your prize catch is actually a fiberglass replica!